In some ways, a Family
by RadicalCat
Summary: "We're a crew. A team. In some ways, a family." Family. This will take some getting used too. A collection of stories and moments with the Ghost crew. Drabbles, Fluff and Trash ahead.
1. An Ezra Trick

AN: This is just a short one shot of a fluffy Sezra moment. I have a lot of little drabbles drafted out. Want to see more?  
This is set after episode 12, "A vision of hope."

* * *

"You're up late."

Ezra turned, surprised Sabine had snuck up on him. He dropped the wrench he had been balancing with the force between his hands, catching it before it could strike the table. Ezra had thought everyone else had gone to sleep hours ago, and had immersed himself in his thoughts and the rarely gotten silence on board the Ghost.

He sat up straight, and winced as his muscles slowly unseized and relaxed back against the back of the booth.

"Yeah," Ezra blinked, a little blearily as his thought reorganized themselves and withdrawing back behind the guarded walls. He shrugged, "Can't sleep. You?"

She rolled one of her favorite explosive balls, thankfully deactivated, across the table. Ezra caught it and palmed it absently, eyes boring through the table.

"Just keeping busy." She said in a conversational tone and sank into the seat opposite his. After a beat of silence, she added, "Long day."

"Yeah." he nodded, rolling the little globe in his hands. "Long day."

They were quiet for a long moment, and chopper came rolling by. He refocused his octoscope and gave them a long measured stare.

Ezra didn't look up. "You just keep rolling, droid."

Chopper immediately lifted the panels on either side and extended his mechanical arms, making an angry hum-

Ezra just shook his head, but lifted his eyes briefly. "Not tonight, yeah?"

Chopper hummed in place for a beat before withdrawing one arm and making flapping gesture with the other, suggesting Ezra wasn't worth the time. He emitted a series of beeps that Ezra read as: "forget you, human." before spinning his top and and rolling through the galley towards his recharge station in the wall.

Sabine made a low falling whistle.  
"Wow you must be in a mood if Chopper doesn't want to mess with you."

He visibly bristled, shoulders tensing in fount of her eyes.  
"You don't want to have one of those 'serious talks' again do you?" Ezra questioned her with a tired but guarded look.

She nodded her head to the side a little in thought, seeming to think about it before shaking her head and resting her chin on her hand.  
"No. I figure neither of us has the energy anyway."

"Good." he said, a little quicker then he'd meant to.

They lapsed back into silence, not entirely awkward but far from comfortable.

Ezra absently rolled the small device over his knuckles, then palmed it, and then made it reappear between his third and forth fingers.

Sabine cocked her head to the side still resting on her elbow, her bangs falling neatly over her cheek. "Is this a new Jedi trick?" she asked with a warpish smile.

Ezra, found himself flashing a tight grin before his somber mood won out. But something in her voice pushed at the gloom overshadowing his usual cheek.

He bared the little ball in his open hand for her to see, then put it in his left hand- while really keeping it in his right and then he lifted his left and made a gesture of shock when he revealed his hand was empty.  
Then he surprised her, by leaning across the table, and made it reappear from behind her right ear. His fingertips grazed her cheekbone as he withdrew his hand and she blinked at the warmth in his fingers.

He held out the bomb with a half heated flourish and the tossed it up in the air. Letting it drop back into his hand.  
"Nah," he told her with an apologetic smile. "It's an Ezra trick."

Her mouth twitched and then she made the tight amused face she always did when she didn't what him to know she wanted to smile.

Ezra felt the dark cloud lifting from his thoughts a little. Maybe things weren't so bad if he could make Sabine _almost_ smile...

He was suddenly very tired.

He yawned, wide and loud, and tossed her the little explosive. Sabine caught it with deft hands, and she studied it before meeting his eyes. In a serious but genuine tone she said,

"I like those better."

* * *

I like to think Ezra is a baws at slight of hand.  
R&amp;R For Good Karma and More Chapters 


	2. Taming a Lothrat

AN: thanks to everyone for all the reviews for the initial chapter! Good karma for all!  
I know it was only a really short piece, but it felt done. All these will be random length chapters. Some super short and some much longer, like this one.

This is the first of a short collection of Ezra settling into the Ghost crew and a new way of living. A boy that's raised himself fro the last few years would defiantly have a few issues letting other people control how he lives, amirite?

This is set a few days after Ezra initially joins the crew. Let me know what you think. It felt a bit forced and jumped around a bit between characters but I felt the the parts that worked, I was really liked. How Ooc is it?

**Taming a Lothrat**

* * *

Meals were one of the most difficult parts for Ezra to wrap his head around.

That was to be expected. Until now, his entire way of life had been about where his next meal was coming from and how he was going to afford it, or during an off week; steal it. He hadn't needed to scrounge in the disposal units since he was nine and started to develop light fingers.

But now, things were different.

The ghost crew rarely ate their meals together, between personal projects, ship maintenance, mission preparation and rocketing around the galaxy- they all most never had a shared moment free.

That suited Ezra fine at first. He'd been 'officially' welcomed on board the Ghost two days ago now and he was still finding his feet. He explored, and made himself familiar with the ships layout.

The first time he found himself in the galley alone, he turned to rummaging through the storage draws and hydrater cabinets. It was a long standing rule of his too invade any locked or closed compartments he came across. In his experience, people usually didn't leave the good stuff lying around after all.

When he pulled the first draw out, he stood back, and simply stared.  
It was packed, completely full of flavored protein packs in neat rows.

Ezra had never seen so much food- the long lasting stuff- in one place. A store like this might last him six or seven weeks if he was clever. And he might not even need to skip meals.

And it was just sitting there. Unprotected and ripe for the taking.

Ezra forced his jaw to shut and closed the draw. He couldn't steal from the crew. _His_ crew, maybe? Either way, something didn't feel right about it.

But moments after the draw shut with a click, his fingers twitched. Ezra pulled it back open and snatched up four of the food pack, swallowing hard on his guilt and shoving them deep into the inner pockets of his suit. He quickly thrust the draw shut and made a beeline for his bunk. He had a sour taste in his mouth.

The cabin was empty, Zeb was elsewhere and that was fine with Ezra. He climbed onto his bunk, and got to work removing the panel in the ceiling above the foot end of his bed. The panel lifted easily and he shoved his head into the space, pulling the food stuffs from his suit and stuffing them deep into the small space he hid his tools and smaller belongings in.

Once it had been established that this was his bunk and his space, Ezra had used the first moment he had alone in the cabin to locate the panel with the most space behind it. He had to re-hook a few wires and strip the insulation off the panel edge, but now he had a good sized pocket hidden inside the ceiling.

Hiding his belongings was a habit as old as his time on the streets. Ezra's quick skills at locating and removing vents was an evolution of what he'd learned about removing hollow panels and loose bricks in walls as a child. Having a safe space to store something and know it would still be there when you returned was _invaluable_ when you had no front door. Or a house.

Ezra hadn't re-homed himself in the old communications tower until he was ten, he'd been too short to reach the ladder before then and it hadn't seemed like a good idea to isolate himself so far away from his food sources. Until isolation became a necessity, Ezra had roamed wild through the streets, sleeping on rooftops or sewers and living between the, literal, holes in the walls.

Ezra replaced the panel above his bunk, which slid back into place like it had never been touched, and sat with his back against the wall to eat. He didn't need a hydrater, he was just fine with eating straight out the pack. It made his mouth dry but the salt and slight spiciness was enough to keep him salivating.

It felt, weird, to eat alone in the galley.

His bunk felt safe- it was a small space with one open side above ground level. That was usual. But sitting out in the open at the galley table felt like- like he was invading the space of someone's home.

Hera had said it was _his_ home too now, but the idea was still foreign. He knew he was welcome to it. That he was welcome here.

He appreciated it, truly, but he wasn't comfortable with it yet.

He chewed, consciously trying not to let the bubble of guilt in his chest ruin his appetite. A kid had to eat, right?

Stealing from Toopers had always felt like a success, and stealing from citizens well, that was necessary. And he only ever took from people who could afford it, deserved it or made it too easy for him.

But stashing food away from the other crew of the Ghost felt... wrong? He wasn't sure.

Ezra finished his basic meal and licked the powder off his fingers, settling back in for a rest with a full belly. He would rest up and then go find Hera in the cockpit for some company.

But he couldn't sleep. He rolled over and huffed when rest didn't come, putting it down to the uncomfortable weight on his chest.

_This is stupid,_ he thought and folded his arm across his chest, glaring at the ceiling.

He'd done nothing truly wrong. It wasn't like he'd eaten them all. _That _would have been selfish. He'd just re-located some food somewhere safer then an unlocked draw when anyone could take them. If anything, he was being sensible.

And if he was truly welcome to help himself to the kitchen and its contents- why shouldn't he take a few extra for himself?

Ezra rolled onto his side and put his back to the wall, transferring his glare from the ceiling to the door.

What if this new arrangement didn't work out? What if Ezra messed up or Kanan, or anyone else for that matter, changed their mind about letting him stay?

He could already tell he was getting on Zeb's nerves, and Sabine would hide in her cabin more often then not to avoid his pestering questions. Hera made him feel welcome, and sitting beside her in the quiet cockpit was the most comfortable place on the ship, second only to his bunk. But Kanan spent a lot of his free time in there with her and Ezra was still, unadmittedly, terrified of wearing out Kanan's patience.  
He was doing his best to avoid the Jedi when they weren't on missions and there had been no talk of Jedi training yet, and Ezra was reluctant to bring it up more often then he already had in case Kanan change his mind.

Ezra closed his eyes and willed sleep to come. They would be arriving on world for another snatch and grab mission soon and he wanted to be on his A game for the crew.

Shouldn't he prepare for the day he was tossed out? At least then he would have a privet stash of supplies he could haul away with him when it did. _If_ it did.

He hoped it didn't.

* * *

"You hungry?" The twi'lek pilot offered, heading towards the kitchen while Kanan followed behind.

"Starved." Kanan agreed. Hera pulled the compartment out of the bench and Kanan saw her shoulders sag.

"What?" He demanded, coming closer to look. The draw's contents were a little askew and a lot emptier then he remembered.

"Didn't we _just _stock that?" he asked. "I knew Zeb's got an appetite but-"

Hera frowned and gave him a look. "Its not Zeb, Kanan." She said in a quiet tone, not an angry one, just one that made it clear this discussion should not be overheard.

Kanan searched her face and frowned.

"I'll go talk to him-"

The Jedi moved towards the door, taking a deep breath to prepare himself. He was stopped when Hera held him back by the elbow. "Wait, Love. Think about this for a moment."

"I won't put up with theft in out own ship, Hera." He told her firmly. Theft was fine _outside_ the Ghost, but on board-

"This is new for him, Kanan." Her voice was firm, and sounded annoyed that she had to explain this. "And we don't know where he was getting his meals from before. Maybe this is all he knows?"

"He doesn't need to steal- he can eat as much as he likes as long as he's working. We told him that!"

"Yes- but maybe he's not sure he can rely on that yet. If he lets us control where his food comes from, we might-""

"Take it away." Kanan finished for her, his tone loosing his anger. He pressed a palm hard into his forehead. "Ugh- why is this so difficult?"

Hera dropped her hold on his arm, now that Kanan wasn't planning on diving into an argument with the boy. _That_ would have never gone well. "Who said it was going to be easy?"

Kanan sank into a seat at the table and looked up at Hera with tired eyes.  
"What do I do then?"

"You could talk to him for a start." She slipped into the seat beside him and squeezed his shoulder.

"I _do_ talk to him!"

Hera gave him a flat look. "Well maybe you could actually start Jedi Training?"

Kanan groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose. "_Hera_." he said wearily.

"Don't give me told him you'd train him. We both know-"

"I _will_ train him. I just- I need to- work out _how_ to first!"

Hera threw up her hands and huffed in annoyance, standing and moving towards the door. She'd lost her appetite now anyway and if she stayed, the discussion wouldn't stay at this volume.  
Hera paused in the doorway first and turned, giving Kanan a hard look. "_Talk_ to him. Not argue. Talk."

And then she left him to think.

* * *

Twelve hours later and Kanan had not decided how to deal with the situation. He'd thought long and hard and come up with nothing helpful. He couldn't approach Jedi training yet, no matter how much Hera disagreed with him or Ezra harangued him. He wasn't even sure what the first lesson should be. What if he was wrong? He didn't know where to start.

He needed caff before he could face the pilot or her wrath. He headed for the galley, withholding a yawn by locking his jaw.

The door pulled aside and Kanan was jolted awake to find Ezra standing in the doorway trying to exit as he entered.

The boy was more surprised to see him then Kanan had been, but he quickly recovered, putting a hand through his hair that Kanan now recognized as a nervous habit.

"Oh- hey." Ezra said, "Uh, I was just going. Galleys all yours."

"You don't have to leave on my account." Kanan said, and then pointedly looked down at the food satchels in Ezra's hand. "You don't want to use the hydrater?" he asked in a casual tone, suspecting he already knew the answer.

"Uh, no thanks. I'm good." Ezra moved to push past the Jedi and Kanan let him go, eying the boys back as he fled into the belly of the Ghost.  
He sighed and turned back to the galley, glancing the protein drawer with apprehension. He had no doubt it would be emptier then before.

* * *

Ezra had amassed a small fortune in food in the last six days now and he was starting to wonder if he had a problem.  
It was more then he could eat by himself or take with him in his back pack if needed. His security spot was almost full now and he was having difficulty removing the panel without the contents spilling out. The crew had been so charitable with meals in the last few days- he hadn't needed to resort to his stash once.

Hera had even made an evening meal for everyone he night before and set some aside for him when he arrived late from cleaning out the engine vents.

It was, strange, to sit down with the crew. Eating as a group, everyone making casual happy conversation. It was still bizarre. He ate quickly and withdrew back to his bunk as soon as possible, trying to ignore how rude it must have been.

Ezra looked down at the food satchels in his hands and he suddenly felt incredibly small. The weight in his chest doubled and an uncomfortable feeling began to eat at his gut.

_Was_ he being selfish? Or was this just nerves?

He decided wasn't hungry anymore, but he did want some air.

The Ghost was currently resting in an open plain while Zeb and Chopper were charged with changing out a fule cell and Hera and Sabine had gone into the nearest city for supplies. The cargo hatch had been left open to let some fresh air circulate through the ship. So Ezra made his way to the hatch ramp and sank onto his rear with a thump and an annoyed breath.

He'd hadn't had to deal with guilt for his actions in a long time. Now he no longer had the safety net of assurance he usually fell back on when it did. He couldn't argue that he _needed_ to steal the food now. It just felt, like he should?

"Your not gonna help Zeb and Chop out?"

Ezra turned at Kanan's voice and shrugged. "They seemed like they've got it sorted."  
In reality Ezra would have like an opportunity to crawl through the underbelly of his new home, but Zeb had growled at him in a harsher tone then usual that morning and Ezra didn't want to push his luck with the Lasat.

Ezra stood up, brushing off his pants and sliding one food pouch into his pocket as he did. Kanan came and stood on his right.

"Whats wrong?" Kanan asked. His tone was no-nonsense and Ezra folded his arms to steel himself for an argument.

"Nothings wrong."

"Then why don't you go help Zeb?"

Ezra scuffed a foot along the ridges in the cargo floor. "He doesn't need me bothering him."

"He's working and you should be working too."

Ezra only shrugged in reply and took a careful step away from the Jedi. The evasion tactic put a crack in Kanan's patience.

"We work for our food here Ezra." Kanan told Ezra firmly and reached out, swiping the protein pack out of Ezra's hand.

Ezra stiffened but let Kanan take it. He had twelve more hidden in his bunk and two stashed in his suit. "That's nothing new." he said with another shrug of his shoulders.

Kanan raised an eyebrow. "What I mean- is your role on the ship."

"My role?" Ezra repeated incredulously.

"Yes- we all chip in. Everyone helps keep the Ghost clean and airborne. Maintenance is key. We work together; we live together."

"Ok, ok I get it. This isn't a free ride. I _know_!" He waved his hands expressively and tried to turn away.

"Ezra-" Kanan stopped him, with a hand on the boys shoulder and pulled him around. "I just want to make one thing clear.

Ezra swallowed, his stomach dipped. This was it. Good thing he'd never unpacked his bag. "What?"

Kanan pursed his lips and it seemed like he was steeling himself. "We're all here for the same reason."

"Zebs training as a Jedi too then?"

Kanan's serious mouth quirked at the idea. "_Funny._ But no. We're all here because of the Empire."  
Ezra looked away, but Kanan kept a firm hold of the boys shoulders.

"They've taken our homes from us in many different ways. I know you've been alone for a long time, making your own rules and doing what you needed to do. This new arrangement will take a while for everyone else to get used too- just," he paused, finding to right wording. He settled on, "Just, give it time. Put some trust in us."

Ezra twisted his mouth, a defensive and sarcastic response building in his throat. He bit down on his tongue, sensing that lately, his first reaction was not likely the right one. At least not anymore.

Kanan tilted his head to the side and studied his face when he didn't reply. "Well?" the Jedi prompted, he felt like he might be starting to get where this kid's head was at sometimes. Sometimes Ezra just needed a point in the right direction, and sometimes he needed a swift kick-

"Okay." Ezra said, breaking his reverie and letting out a long sigh. Kanan saw the boys shoulders visible deflate and he sensed maybe Ezra had just reeled in a volatile and probably sarcastic response. Maybe there was a Jedi somewhere inside him after all.

Kanan nodded and stood back on his heels, looking out into the morning sun over the plains. "Okay."

He saw Ezra giving him a studious look out the corner of his eye and then he seemed to relax. Taking up position again beside the Jedi, but not too close, and put his hands on his elbows.

"Okay."

After a few minutes of silence, Ezra excused himself, mumbling he was going to see if the Lasat and astromech needed an extra pair of hands.

The next time Kanan visited the galley, he was happy to see the protein draw was inexplicably full once again.

Hera was busy programing new coordinate codes in the cockpit, but the rest of the crew was free to enjoy a meal together. Kanan's pride was reaffirmed when Ezra made an effort to sit at the table between Zeb and himself for the entire meal.

Hera gave him a crooked and happy smile when he sat next to her in the cockpit later in the evening.

"Okay," he said, in a willful tone, putting his hands up. "You were right."

"Of course I was." she replied, voice even. "You'd save yourself a lot of time if you just remembered that for next time."

Kanan smiled a little but pushed his chin into his chest so she wouldn't see. "I'll try to keep it in mind,"

* * *

**R&amp;R** for Good Karma and More family focused moments on Ezra


	3. Taming a Lothrat II

AN: Everyone's been really positive about these one shots. I'm super glad you're all enjoying them!  
I'm glad other people wanted to see more development between missions like I did. I feel like there's a bit of a time skip between episode 3 and 4 for example. Where did all the character development go?

You all seem to be saying I've got Kanan down pat, and that's a great compliment. I feel like I'm a bit looser with my hold of Zeb, but practice makes perfect. Hows Ezra's internal process working for you all? I'm trying to find a balance between his optimism and bad attitude. I let the 'street rat' talk shine through here, because I feel like he would automatically slip back into the attitude he'd built to survive on the streets.

The updates will continue to be sporadic, but there is at least 3 more chapters I'd like to finish up for you all. So know that if there are breaks, I will still likely be working on something. Does anyone have any requests of scenes you'd like to see play out that you felt were missing in the show?

Thanks again for all the support everyone!

**Taming a Lothrat II  
**

* * *

Ezra had been with the Ghost crew for just over a month now. So far the most important role he'd been entrusted with was causing a ruckus on board the imperial shuttle, and while that mission hadn't gone entirely to plan- at least Ezra had done his part. And Kanan had _finally_ agreed to start Jedi training.

Ezra still had yet to actually master anything yet, but anything was progress really.

Ezra was just happy to have something to focus on when everyone was busy between hyperspace jumps. It felt like the rest of the crew had something personnel to keep them occupied and he was glad now he didn't feel like the unproductive member of the team. The more he learned, the more useful he'd be.

They'd parked the Ghost a little ways out of Central City, not so far from Ezra's tower. Hera and Sabine had split off in search of some replacement parts and entrusted the boys- _or men_\- as Ezra insisted, to finish the supply run on their own.

Kanan had been given firm instruction not to leave Zeb and Ezra on their own- if last weeks excursion was anything to go by. Both Zeb and Ezra had protested, but withdrew their argument when she silenced them with a look.

So the boys- _not men_\- as Sabine put it, had been sent on their errand.

Ezra wasn't exactly fond of the idea of being forced to carry everything Zeb didn't want to and he hung in the back, hoping to avoid getting handed anything for as long as possible as they made their way through the market.

Kanan had given him strict instruction to avoid _accidentally_ pocketing anything that he didn't purchase and it made shopping a lot less entertaining in Ezra's opinion.

"Stop walking so fast, Stinkman!" Ezra said, needing to jog the last few steps through the crowd to catch up with the Lasat.

Zeb snorted. "Having trouble keeping up, pup?"

"Only because you stride like a broken imperial walker."

Zeb turned, eyes flashing and looked like he was pulling his arm back for a punch.

"Cut it out you two." Kanan ordered, barely glancing over his shoulder, but Ezra saw the look on Kanans face and straightened up. He wanted to try for more training once their supply run was finished, and he really was doing his best to at least try and follow instruction. Or at the very least following _Kanan's_ instruction.

Zeb growled under his breath, and then as Kanan turned around the next corner, jabbed his knuckles into Ezra's arm.

"Hey! Lay off me!" Ezra snapped, pulling back and rubbing his arm. Zeb chuckled a little under his breath and followed in Kanan's wake, throwing his words over his shoulder "Come on, kid. You don't want to get left behind do you?"

Just for that, Ezra planted his feet and let the two of them pull ahead, still rubbing the feeling back into his arm.

He took a moment to look around where he was. He'd been on board with the ghost for a few weeks now, and he'd expected the city streets of Lothal to feel, _different_ since his departure.

But they weren't. The same faces and sights and yep- Ezra wrinkled his nose as he meandered past the cured meats stall- yes, the same smells. He moved on, following his Master and the stinky creature he called a room mate through the busy streets at his own pace.

It was, comforting in a weird way, that this place, bleak as it was, would still the same. His rules would still apply here, and if anything ever went wrong- he could come back. He'd be ok. Ezra was never one for contingency plans, but he stored this idea in the back of his mind to mull over next time Zeb gave him a roughing up. He didn't _have _to stay with the Ghost Crew; he _chose_ to. That was important.

He was so distracted by his thoughts he almost missed the shiver that ran through his mind.

Ezra _felt_ the danger coming, but for once- a second too late.

The hairs on the back of his neck stood up and he instinctively moved towards the stack of crates on his left, intending to put some height and ground between himself whatever it was that had set him on edge. He got as far as separating from the crowd and putting a hand on the first box- when a force plucking him off his feet by the back of his suit.

Ezra had time to see the back of Zeb, head and fuzzy grey shoulders above the rest of the crowd, a good distance down the street before he was launched into the alleyway behind the crate pile and away from the bustle of the market.

Ezra barely caught himself on his knees before a large fist barreled into his stomach, knocking all the breath out of him. The fist carried through the momentum, and Ezra was shoved, hard, with his back to the hard brick wall.

Ezra forced himself to open his watering eyes and saw his attacker for the fist time.

He was not surprised, but he was annoyed- mostly with himself, for letting the beast get the drop on him.

Ezra tried to pull in some badly needed air and his ribs ached in protest, he just managed to squeeze out a pained and casual squeak. "Oh... Hey Kroop."

Kroop, was a human man, or at least half human if the other half of his lineage was a transport tank. He was dressed a little more raggedy then their last encounter but his fists and boots were still the same size- and that was what worried Ezra.

His large squared shoulders heaved with each breath, and his python like arms were held out at his side, each one ending in a fist the size of a dinner plate.

He took a single step closer, enough to fill the distance between them. Leaning down to put his face close to Ezra's. Up close Ezra could see the man was literally sweating from barley contained rage, and he'd had aged badly since he'd seen him last. His bulbous pocked nose and cheeks were a deep blooming red and Ezra suspected at least some of it was a rum flush.

Kroop brought his face in close and snorted hot putrid breath right into the boys face.  
"Don't you _hey_ me, you _Lothrat_." he spat, spittle flying. His voice was every bit low, gravely and unappealing as his looks.  
"You owe me my money." His dark eyes flashed and he raised one boulder of a hand and shoved Ezra hard in the sternum, and held it there, pinning him against the wall.

_Defiantly rum_, Ezra though, the vapors only adding to his watering eyes, but he locked his jaw and took a hard suck of air through his teeth.

"You still on about that?" Ezra snapped, putting on a irritated face and pushed at the hand holding him down. "I won your blastin' game fair and square!"

The words put the boil through Kroop's blood. The man pulled a in sharp breath, taking a grip with both hands of the front of Ezra's suit and pulled him away from the wall. Ezra felt his feet leave the ground and then Kroop shoved him hard again back against the wall, winding the boy yet again.

"You cheated you filthy, stinkin' rat!" Kroop shouted, and gave Ezra a good shake to punctuate his words. "I know you did. Your a lyin sack-

"I ain't never!" Ezra protested, feigning shock and outrage. "Your one to talk though! I've seen you switching out your cards. You keep em' up your slee-"

Kroop roared, and pulled the kid towards him and back into the wall. Ezra felt the back of his skull connect with a crack and he squeezed his eyes shut at the awful sound and in pain. The ache immediately flooded through his brain.

Kroop chuckled now, a deep and unsettling sound. "I'm gonna beat the ever livin' shit out of you, Lothrat." His voice was low and his fists tightened on Ezra's collar as he spoke. "You wont be spittin' your lies any more. Not when you ain't got teeth. I know some people who'd like to get their hands on you _real_ bad. I bet they'd pay me what you owe. Probably a little bit extra for my time." Kroop's eyes widened and creased in the corners as he grinned, but there was no warmth there.

Ezra's head was spinning and throbbing with each rotation, but he sucked on his dry tongue, pulled up some moister and spat directly into the drunks face.

The saliva hit Kroop in a general spray across his wide cheeks and he pulled one hand away from Ezra's suit to swipe furiously at the offence with a guttural yell of disgust.

"Blow it out your exhaust vent!" Ezra snapped, drawing on something he'd head Hera mutter once or twice under her breath. He'd liked how it sounded and had filed it away for future use. Now seemed like a good a time as any since he was probably about to be beaten to death.

Kroop jerked his hand away from his body, trying to shake off the spittle. Then, he stilled, looking down one end of the alley, and then other, nf inaly lifting hos eyes up off the dirty alleyway floor to look him in the eye. Ezra saw the corners of his scarred mouth twitch up.

The threats and violence hadn't scared Ezra, much, that was par for the course with thugs like Kroop. But a smile? That was deeply unsettling and the fear was now running thick through him. He should shove him- with the force!

No. Ezra wasn't supposed to let citizen know. No one should see it expect the crew. maybe Kroop would only rough him up. Maybe Ezra could pay Kroop off. He could hurry up a handful of creits enough to keep the rumhead happy long enough for him get back on the Ghost and off Lothal, right? He'd still want to put in a little punishment, but Ezra could deal with that.

Kroop brought his offended hand back up and wiped his wet palm roughly on Ezra's shoulder, cleared his throat and looked him straight in the eye.

"I'm gonna kill you." he told him clearly and Ezra believed him, or at least that he was going to try his damn hardest. He began mentally weighing the risk of throwing off the man, Now, and If he even could do it...

"Can I help you?"

Kroop and Ezra both jerked their heads to the side, Ezra's still reeling, to see Kanan, standing casually in the entrance of the alleyway, arms folded and his weight to one side.

Ezra, still a little breathless and his head pounding, tried to convey the message of "_go away! I got this._" through his eyes alone. He didn't want his master to see him get his face beaten in, what kind of useless Padawan would that make him? Kanan would certainly not be impressed if he couldn't handle a simple street thug.

Judging by the brow Kanan cocked at him and the deep frown to accompany it, his message hadn't been received or was simply ignored.

Kroop looked a little put off having been so rudely interrupted at the pinnacle of his rage; recovered, and heaved a sneer at the Jedi.

"Shove off, Murglak. This is my business." he squeezed his fists and put a little more weight into the boys throat and Ezra felt the last of the his air leaving him. He struggled and kicked, mostly on instinct, but aimed to give Kroop a hard kick in the gut. A sharp pain told him he'd jarred his toes, and that he might as well have tried kicking a large rock. For all his squirming, Kroop held him firmly in place.

Kanan did not look worried. He shifted his weight to his other foot and then began to casually approach the thug like they were old acquaintances.

"See, that's where we have a problem. You've got a member of my crew there, so that's when this become My Business."

Ezra wasn't sure how but Kanan had found a way to capitalize his words without raising his voice or altering the casual tone of his voice, but it gave the thug pause.

Kroop blinked, clearly confused by the addition of Kanan to the situation. "Crew?" he demanded. Then he lifted Ezra away from the wall again, by one hand and held him out like the market daily meat selection. All while Ezra pulled at the thugs grasp on him and struggled to lift even one sausage finger off his suit. "You sayin' this Lothrat actually belongs to someone?"

Kroop actually snorted with disbelief, wet and loud. Ezra felt his cheeks burning, a mixture of embarrassment and rage.

"Yes." Kanan replied calmly. "_Me_. So could you put him down?"

Kroop seemed to actually think about it for a moment, the cogs almost visibly whirling and clicking in his mind. He must have made a decision before putting Ezra back against the wall, still only supported by the single pylon arm. Ezra could feet his feet tingling in his boots from hanging, suspended in the air like a puppet.

Kroop eyed Kanan suspiciously "I'll put him down when he coughs up the credits he stole from me."

"I told you- I didn't steal anything!" Ezra hissed, looking to reclaim control of the situation.

Kroops response instantaneous and he ground Ezra's face into the wall as the boy writhed in protest and roared into his exposed ear.

"You _cheated,_ you lyin' little-"

"What's his debt?" Kanan cut Kroop off in an irritated voice.

"What?" Kroop was thrown again. This was more talking then he was used to, Kroop was used to fists, not words. It was clearly putting him off to be treated so unaffectedly as Kanan was. People were meant to be scared of him, not, whatever this stranger was.

"His debt." Kanan answered, slowing his speech just a fraction. "What does he owe you?" and to make sure his point really got across, he held up a leather pouch and bounced it up and down a little. The credits inside clinked together and now Kanan had Kroop's full attention. His bloodshot eyes were pinned on the bag as it hung limp from Kanan's fingers.

"Fort- _Fifty_ Credits." Kroop said quickly.

Ezra's face was still crushed into the wall but he managed to lift his mouth away from the stone-

"It was_ Never_!" he shouted in outrage.

Neither man paid him any attention, Kroop was too focused on Kanan and his money. The Jedi just just shrugged. "Fine. Fifty credits it is. Then you'll let me and my crew get back to our business without further interruption?" He opened the pouch and began counting out the golden tokens into his palm, face still a mask of uninterested obligation.

"Sixty!"Kroop almost tripped over himself to say. "_Sixty_ for my troubles. Sixty credits and you can have your Lothrat back."

And then, to prove his point and emphasis the danger, he pushed an elbow deep into Ezra's throat, cutting off his muffled protests. Ezra writhed, now completely breathless, thumping his balled hands uselessly against the bulky arms.

Kanan's eyes narrowed at the display, but his mask didn't flicker. "Sixty credits. Deal." and then, to seal the deal he slipped the small fortune in his hand back into the pouch, pulled the draw strings closed and held the bag out.

Kroop immediately lifted his weight off Ezra and released him, talking a stumbled step towards Kanan; one hand reaching out to snatch up the offered pouch. Ezra slid down the wall with a gasp and his prickling legs crumpled under him. He quickly pulled himself up onto his hands and knees, to shout at Kanan, to warn him. He knew Kroop, and his type was not the kind to stop at taking your credit pouch or to keep a deal.

That was when a pair of grey hands decended from the rooftop above them, they came from behind and took Kroop by the throat. The drunk lurched in surprise, but Zeb had already launched him off his feet- much the same way Kroop had done to Ezra before, and threw him up against the wall, face first.

The thug rebounded with a crack and a moan, and before he could regain his feet, Zeb had him in a headlock. Ezra could see Kroop's nose looked broken and blood was was streaming down his front.

"You know what?" the Lasat said, in a conversational, almost jovial, tone. "I think we'll keep our credits instead."

Kroop's eyes went wide and he flailed uselessly against Zeb's equal weight, while the Lasat laughed. Then with probably more force then necessary, Zeb heaved the large man up, like he wasnt a man roughly the size of a Hutt; and dropped him heavily on his head.

Kroop was immediately still, and for a beat, Ezra thought Zeb might've killed him. But Zeb gave the thug a nudge with his foot and the unconscious man let out a guttural snore an he breathed into the dirt.

Kanana put a hand out and Ezra stared at it for a moment, before putting his palms flat against the ground and pushed himself up onto his feet, trying not to be obvious about using the wall for support while he caught his breath. He put a hand around his guts, all the middle of him ached.

"So." Kanan began in an an admonishing tone. "Friend of yours?"

"No. I had that under control- you didn't need to come swooping in y'know!" Ezra snapped, adrenaline still ruling his mouth. He jumped when Zeb cracked his knuckles and looked away to avoid the Lasat's glare. He could feel it through the air.  
A streak of guilt ran through him, but it was chased by anger that now felt like he owed them an explanation. He hadn't asked them to get involved, they had no right to be mad at him.

"I never even stole his stupid money." he mumbled angrily, unconsciously rubbing the back his head where the throbbing was the worst.

When no one answerd, Ezra looked up into two very unconvinced faces. His eyes darted back down to where Kroop was laying in the dirt and the fight began to leave him.

"Ok, Ok." Ezra huffed, throwing up his hands and wincing when it pulled at sore muscles in his chest. "So maybe I had an extra card or two. But he cheated _every_ game! I was just evening my odds! I had a system and he was too stupid to count." He said this in a tone that suggested it was all perfectly justified, because it _was._

"Apparently he wasn't as stupid as you thought." Kanan remarked, eyeing the boys hands as he rubbed at his neck.

"Seems like your the stupid one for getting on the bad side of a man as big as a batha." Zeb shot back. Ezra glared but Zeb didn't see, he was studying the sizable man on the ground who snored.  
"You got cocky, didn't ya kid."  
To Ezra's surprise, the Lasat pulled back his foot and gave Kroop an hard kick in the ribs.

The action warmed Ezra's icy defenses a little, even if he was sure Zeb had done it because he wanted too for himself and not as some kind of payback for Ezra's harsh treatment. But the anger was gone from his belly now.

Ezra twisted his mouth, suddenly bashful. "Ok, so he calls me on it one day and I may've slipped out with the pot before he flips the table. It was only four credits. So you can't really blame me. How was I to know he was a sociopath? He's never caught me before. I always outran him, he's not really a threat unless he catches you, y'know" He finished his story with a shrug.

"Why didn't you call us on the com?" Kanan demanded, and Ezra was surprised that he didn't sound angry. Maybe, frustrated?

Ezra looked up, confused at the question. Then he put his hand down to his belt and un-cliped the communicator where it had sat safely on his hip drring the scuffle. He could have easily reached it. He lifted it up now, like he was seeing it for the first time. "Oh yeah." He blinked at it, then shoved it back onto his side. "I guess I forgot it was there."

And it was true; the idea of calling for backup and never even occurred to him. It would have been easily done, alerting the others to his situation. They would have tracked him in seconds.

Ezra half wondered how'd they'd know he was in trouble without it. Maybe Kanan had tracked him down like a true Jedi when Zeb realised Ezra wasn't there to carry his share of the supplies. For that matter, how log had Zeb been positioned above waiting to get the drop on the drunk listening?

Kanan and Zeb exchanged a long _look_ that Ezra decided not to read into.

He looked down on Kroop's wide and crumpled form, and feeling his ribs protest under each breath, he drew back his own foot and gave the man another hard kick in the kindeys on his other side. Ezra hoped he would have bruises, because he sure would.

Kroop flinched in his sleep but did nothing more then drool into the dirt.

Kanan pinched the bridge of his nose and shook his head. "Come on, we've wasted enough time disturbing the locals. Lets go before someone alerts a Trooper. I'd like to have one day where the Empire isn't standing on my heels." he turned and headed back towards the market.

Zeb gave Ezra and shove in the shoulder, and it seemed gentler then usually, but Ezra knew that was just because he was getting tougher. Obviously.  
"Come on you, Lothrat." Zeb said, but the word didn't sound as poisonous in his mouth.

Still. Ezra gave him a hard shove. "Don't call me that!" and let the Lasat walk ahead.

Kanan and Zen rejoined the market swarm, and eight clicks later Ezra drew level with them on Kanans left.

The Jedi gave him a side long glance and then stopped walking all together, pressing the heel of his hand against his forehead and directing his words to the boy "Please don't tell me you just looted the unconscious fool."

Ezra gave him a non-committal shrug, his hands deep in his pockets. "Ok." His hair was a little roughed up at the back and there was grit in the brick imprint in his cheek.

"Ezra!"

"What? You said not to tell you!" The boy help up his hands, like he was at a loss of what Kanan could possibly want from him.

Kanan's eyes bugged but he pressed them back into his skull with his fingers and rubbed at them furiously, trying to clear the red spots on his vision.

Zeb just fodled his arms and shook his head. "You don't learn, do you kid?"

"Its not like he's getting up anytime soon. Sides'," Ezra shrugged and pulled ahead. "He wont catch me again."

Kanan shot Zeb an exhausted look, but the Lasat had a twitch in the corners of his mouth. Kanan shook his head at them both and shot ahead, he'd had enough of them both today, Hera's order's be damned.

"Don't give me that!" Zeb shouted. "_I_ didn't rob the idjit."

"No, but you dropped him on his head." Ezra countered.

Zeb shrugged one shoulder and pulled back his stride to let the boy draw level with him. "He was asking way too much for you. It was extortion."

"You were never going to pay it in the first place!"

"True. Four credits is way more then your worth though."

Kanan marched ahead all the way through the market as they collected their belongings and then he led them all the way back to the Ghost. All three walked laden with crates and boxes, Zeb and Ezra lapsed into a heated discussion on how _not _to cheat on card games and their arguments became a constant buzz in the background of Kanan's thoughts.

He was trying to decide if he should leave the discussion of what an appropriate situation to call for backup was or leave Ezra to come to him. Maybe, if the boy was still up for when they got back, he would approach him with training first. Then he could brooch the argument- and would almost certainly be an argument.

Kanan could already see Ezra's brows pinching together and hear him say: "But I didn't _need _back up..." You didn't need a force vision to predict _that _response.

Honestly.

He did not look forward to explaining to Hera why Ezra was now more blue and black then usual. And less so explaining how he'd lost him in the market.

It was going to be a long day...

* * *

**R&amp;R** for good Karma and more Lothrat shots.


	4. Haircuts- No Buts

AN: This is just a silly oneshot. A Little Sezra, a little angst, a lot of fluff. Set a littleways down the road. I don't think its my best, it just didn't quiet come together- but I hope there's something here for you to Enjoy

**Haircuts- No Buts.**

* * *

There was obviously no real day or night when the Ghost was in hovering in the atmosphere above Lothal or barreling around the galaxy in hyperspace- but for the sake of sanity; the Crew of the Ghost operated on a 24 hour clock as best they could.

Their schedule's still worked around missions and daily ship maintenance and often Jedi training. Yet the crews second priority was to do their best to keep a routine by simulating nightfall with enforced bedtimes. That way everyone operated on a similar body clock and everyone was just as well rested as each other between missions.

It wasn't ideal to have a over tired crew or one that where the night owls and early risers were constantly clashing.

Though no amount of sleep would keep Ezra and Zeb from being at odds with each other- however; it was an unspoken opinion that the two simply enjoyed putting one another one edge for the sake for appearances now. Possibly tradition.

Kanan and Hera had expected this part of life on the Ghost to take some time for Ezra to get used too, living by your own rules and being a teenage boy and all.

But he seemed to soak up the routine in a matter of weeks, and now usually rose early with Kanan to meditate or joined Hera at the helm of the Ghost first thing after rising.  
It was... nice.

Sabine tended to roll her hours over a little, usually staying up late into the night tweaking her bombs and painting. It was the only time she really allowed herself to breath, and fully relax in the quiet of the ship- or relative quite with Zeb's snoring across the hall and the occasional beep as Chopper patrolled the halls. But usually; she had the quiet of the night to herself and her paints.

So it was a surprise when she found Ezra awake, far later then usual. A predictably accurate sign that something was on his mind.

Sabine pressed the key on the fresher lock, intending to use the time to clean up after the days dirty mission. The door pulled aside but the inner light filaments did not turn on- because they were already on.  
She jolted to see Ezra, standing in the middle of the room.

"Uh hi?" Ezra looked up from his place at the vanity with surprise but not embarrassment. A small voice in her head was relieved he was still wearing his jumpsuit- even if it was pulled down to his waist, bearing the white tank top he wore underneath.

"Oh- sorry. I didn't think anyone else was up." she said, backing away a little, then her eyes were drawn down to the greasy wire cutters in Ezra's left hand.

"You doing your mechanics in the steamer now?" she asked with a lifted brow. It was not unusual to find Ezra small time engineering projects littered throughout the Ghost- but the steamer?  
Ezar looked down to his hand like he was more surprised to see the tool, then her.

"Oh. Nah." he flicked his eyes back to the small reflective panel above the sink and lifted a random handful of hair up with a shurg of his shoulder. "I was just cutting my hair. It's starting to get in the way. I'll be done in in a minute."

He lifted the wire cutters up and was close to snipping the bunch off when Sabine threw out her arm and quickly pushed his hand down.

"With wire cutters?" She demanded a little amused and a little aghast at the idea.

He looked down on the tool in his hand and then but up to her, eye brows pulled together in confusion. "Well yeah." He said with a shrug. "It's worked for me so far."

Sabine shook her head, her mouth parted a little in disbelief. Ezra just turned back to the mirror and lifted the cutters again, aiming to slice the handful a good inch from his head-

Sabine stopped him again with a hand on his arm. "Wait- I can't let you do this. Come with me."

"What? Why?" Ezra demanded, but he dropped the hand holding the cutters as requested. "Its _just_ hair."

She shot him a look and shook her head. "Typical attitude of the artistically challenged."

She pulled him out the fresher door by his wrist and the light filaments clicked off behind them, dragging him towards her room. He paused in the doorway with a look of apprehension.

Sabine was always somewhat surprised how reverent Ezra treated her cabin. He'd never so much at set foot inside beyond the doorway. He respected her; and he showed that by respecting her space.  
Of course outside her cabin he would be a general nuisance all he liked.

"Come on, I wont bite." she told him.

"But might you explode." Ezra said wryly, but did as he was told and stepped further into the room.

"Not on board. You know me better then that." She keyed the hatch shut behind him, so they wouldn't disturb the quiet of the ship. Waking Zeb was almost never worth the hassle.

She pushed Ezra down into the seat at her work bench.

The surface was a mixture of plaint spatter, misfire and chemical dust strewn with small screws and timer caps. She brightened the spotlight filaments that hung overhead and pushed most of the mess away with her arm.

"I like what you've done with the place." Ezra said casually, picking up a spray cap and rolling it between two fingers. Sabine slapped his hand lightly and it went spinning back onto the bench.

"Don't mess with the system. I have everything where I want it."

He grinned. "Your system is a lot like mine when it comes to my work bench."

She went to a drawer at the side of her bunk and pulled out a thin silver pair of clean shears. "At the tower?"

"Yeah. You should come paint it. You can write 'Burn Empire Burn!' in the wall so I can see it every time I open the door." he framed his hands out in front of him as he said it and Sabine could already see the colours. She thought she might try her hand at some comic realism; make it look like smoke trails rising out of the words, as if Ezra had written it with his lightsaber thorough the wall.

"That sounds like fun." she said, decidedly. "But lets work on this project first."  
Sabine moved back towards the desk, leaned over Ezra's shoulder and moved the painted panel behind the desk.

It lifted away easily and revealed a rectangular mirror underneath.

"Oh that's sneaky." he said with laugh and grinned at her through his reflection. "I thought I knew all the hidden panels on this boat!"

"Not all of them." she agreed and placed the painted covering carefully on the floor against the wall.

Ezra looked into his reflection and then met her eyes through the mirror, laying the wire cutters down on the bench with a defeated sigh. He then put out a hand for the shears, but she pushed it back down, holding the shears to her chest.  
"You're here now, I might as well do it. You don't even know what your doing."

He dropped his hands into his lap, looking genuinely surprised. "You want to cut my hair?"

"What? Don't you trust me?" she smiled, purposefully spreading it a little too wide then could ever be comforting.

His brow went flat and he gave her a dry look. "I trust _you_ to give Zeb something to laugh at in the morning."

"He'll do that anyway." she said, shrugging in the mirror and putting two hands into his hair before he could argue.

She took a moment, combing the locks out and studying them for each angle. He wasn't wrong, the mop of raven hair was looking a lot shaggier then usual. She eyed the grotty wire cutters on the desk with a crooked smile. No wonder his hair always has such a choppy layered look about it.

Ezra, meanwhile, was forcibly trying not to lean into the touch. He'd jumped at first, but then Sabine had combed her sharp fingers over his temples, and the tension left him. As she teased the knots and tangles out, the touch began to feel rhythmic. Soothing in nostalgic way that brushed against the edges of his memory, when his mother would brush his hair back out of his eyes and hum a tuneless melody...

The feeling made his gut twist uncomfortably, and he wanted to shake his head to loosen the fog. But he didn't want to disturb Sabine's work, whatever she was doing, and settled for squeezing his eyes shut. Fisting his hands on his knees.

"Your not gonna paint me are you?" he demanded, his voice sharper then he'd meant. He swallowed, and pulled back on the edge in his voice. "I mean, _You_ can pull it off, but I don't have the right attitude."

"Are you saying I have an attitude?" Sabine's sharp voice cut through the emotional turbulence and suddenly he was back on even flooring.

"Yes." he said quickly. "A bad one." and he grinned, keeping his eyes shut so he couldn't see her face. She gave a small tug on the stands between her fingers.

"You be careful, or you'll leave that seat with more then just your hair missing."

"Just don't cut it all crooked, like yours." Ezra said, unable to keep the smart response to himself.

The fingers in his hair stopped moving. Thinking she'd stopped because of his comment; Ezra opened his eyes.

For a moment, he was confronted and confused why Sabine had a full colour image of his father's face painted on her wall.

And then he realized it wasn't his father; it was his reflection.

Sabine was holding his hair, pulled back into a short ponytail at the base of his neck and watching his face in the mirror.

"You don't have to cut it." she told him. "You could just tie it back."

Ezra starred, drinking in the image, before pulling his eyes down towards the desk.

In his distraction, he didn't hear the tone in her voice that suggested maybe _she_ preferred it like this.

"What's wrong?" Sabine asked, suddenly aware of the casual good mood sweeping out of the room.

Ezra shook his head a little, and then, seemed to think about it before lifting his eyes to meet hers in the mirror and studying her face as hard as she was his.

Sabine was possible the only member of the Ghost that had any _real _idea of the how sore the subject of his parents disappearance was for him. Of course Kanan knew, but Sabine had forced her way into knowing. She was the one who insisted on pushing him on the topic, refusing to let him just _ignore_ the pain.

"I look like my dad." he said quietly, meeting only his own eyes in the reflection.

Sabine looked, and now she could see it.

When she'd been cleaning up the old data disk she'd plucked from the old Bridger home- she'd inevitably spent a lot of time watching as the image of Ezra's parents slowly became clearer.

She could see the shape of Ezra's strong nose and the line of his jaw in that man. Possibly even the cocky way her stood with his weight to one side and the willful attitude behind that smile.  
But it had been the the bright blue eyes of his mother that she recognized first.

She could see it now, in Ezra's mirrored face. His jaw seemed sharper with his hair pulled back and the line of his face looked older. The look in his eyes were heavy with thought as his eyes bore through the desk.  
Suddenly she could see the beginnings of a man in that reflection; not a boy, and certainly not a kid.

"Yeah." she said simply, "You do."

He lifted his eyes, maybe surprised she hadn't forced the issue or that she'd agreed with him. Sabine ignored the look, and readjusted her hold on the hair, wearing a straight face. "Besides- if you wore it like this; it would just look like you were trying to copy Kanan. and Zeb would never let you live that down."

Ezra offered her the weakest of half smiles. "You think so?"

She dropped the hair, which fell back against his jaw into its mopish form and stepped back.  
Sabine reached back into the draw at her bedside and pulled out a pair of sharp clippers.

"I could just shave it all off if you like?" she offered casually, brandishing the razors like a weapon, which in her hands- it likely was.

His eye bugged and his mouth pulled back into a grimace. "No! No thanks. I think I'd rather you painted it! " And with that, the tension was gone.

She shrugged, dropping the clippers back into the drawer and reached, slowly, for the nearest spray nozzle- "If you're sure..."

Ezra pulled his shoulders back and put up both hands, eyes wide. "I was joking. Please. _Don't_ give me green hair!"

Sabine returned to her position behind him with a roll her eyes and a smile. "Don't be silly, green isn't your colour." she resumed combing out the locks, this time straight down from the middle part of his crown.

"I'd much prefer your in pink." she told him seriously, and before he could protest- she lifted the shears against his cheek and made one quick snip at the section of hair over his ear.

"Whoa- careful! I still need my eyes, y'know!" he said, jerking away from the blades and watching the snipped hair fall to his shoulders.

"Oh suck it up. I've seen you avoid blaster fire that was closer." She chided him, adjusting his head with a firm hold on each side jaw, putting her face close to his and giving him a hard stare in the mirror. "Now,_ don't_ move, _if_ you want to keep your ears that is."

She stood straight and the shears began to snip away in rapid fire.

For possibly the first time, Ezra had no trouble following orders.

* * *

**R&amp;R** for Good Karma


	5. Taming a Lothrat III

More lothrat onesots and of course, more Sabine. She and Ezra are just too easy to write together, Id really like to see more banter in the show- they play off eachother so well! David Please! D:

This shot deals with Ezra settling into permanent space and leaning to let others take care of him. What other challenges do you think he would face?

**Taming a Lothrat III**

* * *

No one should have been surprised.

Ezra was a growing boy after all, and that included his feet.

Zeb considered himself a patient Lasat- to a point.  
He really was doing his best to share his space with Ezra. Zeb hadn't had to share his quarters with anything for a long time and Ezra had never had to share- well anything- ever.

So Zeb was surprised that after three months aboard the Ghost, he and Ezra were are odds with each other on every topic- except the space in their cabin. Ezra had his bunk- and that was all he seemed to need or want.

Zeb had long expected, and dreaded, the boys collection of odds and ends to beginning piling up in is space. But the work desk remained clear, and the shelves mostly free.  
The kids had his helmet, his backpack and that was about it really.

He didn't seem to have any other clothes. Or shoes. And that was where Zeb's latest annoyed had begun to focus on.

He took Kanan aside after being woken up to muttering curses- again and demanded someone find the kid a new pair of boots during their next supply run.  
He was frankly sick of listening to the boy struggle and grunt and curse under his breath as he tried to pull them on every morning. Zeb was a not usually a light sleeper, but this was getting repetitive.  
It boarded on ridiculous that the kid was trying to make the ratty things fit, when they _clearly_ did not. Zeb suspected they might even hurt to walk around in, let alone run- but that wasn't what was annoying him; It was that Ezra woke him up every morning before he needed to, and that was it.

Ezra was clearly offended anyone else was attempting to control his wardrobe, so he folded his arms and set his face in a rotten scowl, which only grew even darker when Kanan agreed the boy would probably be getting a little long in the arms for his ratty jumpsuit soon.

"You'd look a little worse for wear if you were crawling in dust all the time too! It's just dirty, my suit is fine!" Ezra retorted. He waved his arms rapidly in a wide arch above his head to prove his point- and a tearing sound alerted everyone that his right elbow had just gone straight through a break in the stitching.

"Okay," Ezra said began again in a reasonable tone, switching up his argument and inspecting his bare elbow through the frayed hole. "So its a_ little_ worn in, yeah. But its _still_ totally fine."

Kanan had closed his eyes and shook his head gently, and the rest of the crew had similar reactions, eying the boy with dry expressions.

"Its is!" Ezra stressed, seeing they didn't believe him.

Despite his best efforts to convince him otherwise, Kanan had dragged Ezra away during their next supply run into the market stalls. The boy had followed muttering angrily into his chest- and returned with a brilliant smile and sporting a pair of old soldiers boots he'd traded the smaller ones for and patch over the his sleeve.

"Why didn't you get a new suit?" Hera asked later after their midday meal. For once, the crew could sit back and relax, their cargo hold was full from the previous days mission and all they had to do was wait out the rendezvous with Vizargo.

"I Tried. _Trust me_\- it wasn't worth the argument." The Jedi rubbed furiously at his temples, It had been a difficult morning. "Maybe when it falls apart at the seams?" he suggested and a tone that told them he had no hope of that either.

Zeb scoffed, "Unlikely. It will rot off the kid first.", not taking his eyes off his game of holochess with Chopper, the astomech's mechanical arm was paused above the board as he considered his next move.

Sabine smiled, catching on to the tail end of the game. "I think it's going to dissolve from all the grease and dust to be honest."

"Lay off my suit!" Ezra's disembodied shout came from the next room. "I don't pick on your clothes! None of you are wearing central style either!"

"You can't wear it forever, Ezra." Hera answered loudly and leaning back in her seat to make sure her reply carried around the corner, her face betraying at least little amusement.

"You'll have to bury me in it!"

Sabine felt her cheeks twitch and Zeb bristled at the table "_That_ might be sooner then the kid expects." he muttered.

Chopper turned his top and trilled in agreement, then extending his arms upwards as his rook took checkmate on the holoboard. Zeb grumbled and admitted defeat with a huff.

Kanan let out a slow breath, he was _more_ then willing to let the argument go at this point for the sake of peace.

"I'm going to go meditate." he said in a forcibly calm voice, standing and heading for his room- any room, with a lock and a thick door.

The crew settled into chores and privet hobbies, Hera predictably retreated to the cockpit followed by Chopper. Zeb went to seek out some silence in his room while Ezra was otherwise occupied.

Sabine set about clearing the galley- as it was her turn on this weeks chore rotation.  
The Ghost was oddly quiet- which only tended to happen when Ezra, Chopper and Zeb were put in separate rooms- and even then it wasn't a sure thing.

She considered getting some painting done- but, she wasn't really feeling it right now.  
She wanted company, she decided, maybe discussion would inspire her? So she wandered absently, and found herself headed down into the belly of the ship.

Sabine found Ezra, sitting cross legged on the cargo floor, one for his new boots upturned in his lap and the other unlaced on the floor in front of him. He was bent over the boot, sole of the shoe facing up. He seemed to be carefully slicing into the thick rubber heel with the scalpel from his tool kit that he used to scrape the rubber coating of wires.

"What are you doing?" she asked in an almost singsong voice, leaning her arm over the railing. She was pleased when the boy jumped and looked up sharply from his work in surprise.

When he saw who it was he gave her a sheepish smile. "Nothing." he said quickly, putting the boot down and shrugging.

Sabine humph'd in disbelief and approached the ladder. "I'll believe that when I see it."

"Really, its nothing!" Ezra insisted as she came closer, picking up the shoe and holding it close to his chest.

She bent at the waist, arms behind her back and inspected the assaulted boot.  
"Are you making hidey-holes in the soles of your shoes?" She demanded, but her tone was impressed. Trust Ezra to be the most creative when it came to secrecy.

"Its not a hidey hole!" He shot back defensively, then in a thoughtful tone added, "Its a strategic carrier slot!"

She dropped her shoulders and gave him a dry look. "A_ strategic carrier slot_." she repeated, voice flat. She held out a hand for the shoe, and he reluctantly handing it over.

Ezra shrugged and huffed, both hands hidden behind his head. "Its the last place anyone looks. At least not inside the shoe. I just wish I'd thought of it sooner. The soles are thicker on these then my last ones." he lifted the second boot up to show her the profile of the shoe- and yes the sole was at least a few centimeters thicker then his last pair.

She inspected the boot in her hands and turned it around to see it better. The small incision began on the inside of the foot, running along the curve where the heel was thickest. It was only about six centimeters long and the width of a credit token. Ezra had sliced it and hollowed out the inside, but left the outer panel connected so it could be pushed back, sealing in the hidden compartment.

"What can you even put in here?" she asked curiously, lifting the rubber flap back with a finger nail and peering into the thin empty vent.

"Lots of stuff!" Ezra said brightly, reaching out and taking the shoe back. He dug into his pocket and pulled out two thin bent wires. "manual lock picks for one." he said holding them out.

"No one uses manual locks any more though." she pointed out, taking the one bent into a gentle L and inspecting it. He held out the boot, and she stuck the pick inside. I

t posted through the slot easily.

He shrugged and did the same with the wire bent into a long thin U.  
"You'd be surprised. And they make decent screwheads on the fly. And a pin-drive would fit if I forced it too- though that might break if I need to kick off my heel." His face turned thoughtful as he drifted into concentration. "I could hide important data chips. That'd be useful! And maybe an emergency credit or two."

Sabine watched the boys face twist and his eyes narrowed in thought as she studied the shoe from every angle, firing off ideas as they came to him.

"Why do you have to hide everything?" She asked, surprising herself with the tactless question.

He looked up, frowning and quirked his head to the side. "What'd you mean?"

She pointed to the boot in his hand. "You have a perfectly good room upstairs, and you can carry a bigger backpack if you need too. Why go to the trouble of cutting holes into your shoes?"

His face went through an evolution of expressions.

First, he opened his mouth, eyes narrowed and she expected him to deny the fact that he hid everything. But he hesitated, pulling back on himself and looking down at the shoe in question with something akin to surprise in his eyes. Finally Ezra lifted his head and frowned a little as his internal process began to slow.

"I guess I just want to be prepared." he said, but his tone suggested he wasn't entirely sure of the answer himself.

"Prepared for what?" Sabine pushed, surprised he hadn't outright defected the question for once.

Ezra's shoulders heaved as he took a deep breath and dropped quickly. "For things to go wrong." he said, voice steady and eyes boring into the boot in his hands.

The honesty of his answer caught her off guard and she straightened her posture in surprise.

"What things?" she asked, but as the words came out- she knew. Things in general did not go their way.

"All things. Life. All the _dumb_ things we do." he lifted his arms and indicated the cargo hold- and the several transport crates full of stolen Empire property the were currently _relocating_.

"I'm just used to bringing everything with me if I can carry it." He ended with a shrug, giving her the smallest hint at what the past eight years had been like before now.

Always running, having no real home, knowing the only things you truly owned were what your could keep with you at all times.

The mood had taken an unexpected and realistically dark turn and Sabine felt the pressure to break the tension. He didn't need to be prepared at all times any more, he had security here, she wanted him to see that.

"Well that's what the Ghost is for, Di'kut." Sabine pulled back a fist and gave Ezra a medium strength punch to the bicep. Yes- violence, this made her more comfortable. This was familiar territory for them both. "Zeb says you don't keep much in your bunk. Store your useless junk in there- you don't need to carry it with you all the time."

Ezra jerked and rubbed at the tender spot on his arm, but he gave her a half cocked smile that suggested he knew what she was trying to do. "Yeah I guess", he said folding in on himself and parking his rear on the floor. Ezra pulled on the boots, one now loaded with odds and ends, lacing them up tightly.

"Anyway. Whatever my deal is- You should know I have more surprises hidden in my clothes then just wants in my boots."  
He looked up and gave her a Cheshire grin.

He twisted her mouth distastefully and leaned back on one foot away, looking down her nose with narrowed eyes. "You better not be about to make a 'in my pants' remark- because your head is at prime kicking level."

Ezra almost leapt to his feet and put his hands up in defense,"Whoa! No, no. That's not it, I meant my _sleeves_! I have pockets in my sleeves!"

He tugged clumsily at the hems at his wrists and pulled two playing cards out of one and a small burnt out holodisk out of the other, holding them both up as proof.  
"See! You need it- I got it. Why do you think I don't wanna give this suit up. Its full of stuff I like to have with me. And I'm not grown out of it yet!"

Sabine's eyes were drawn to the holodisk he was brandishing in one hands and she parted her lips in surprise to see it again.  
At the same time Ezra realized exactly what he'd revealed- and he shoved the holodisk quickly back up his right sleeve and turned his face away- embarrassed and suddenly uncomfortable.

They hadn't really spoken about that, _adventurous,_ Empire day since. Sabine hadn't really seen an opportunity to revisit the argument they hadn't finished having in the galley that day.

"Anyway, uh, my jokes are way more tasteful then that! You don't know me at all." He said in a forced mournful tone of voice.

Sabine, doing her best not to smile and ignore what she'd seen, put her hands on her hips and shrugged. She put a hand on the ladder and began to climb, throwing her words over her shoulder. "I guess I don't. Anyway- I'm gonna get back to my painting. Good luck putting holes in your shoes."

"Strategic carrier slots!" he corrected to her back in a voice louder then necessary.

Sabine waved two fingers dismissively as she disappeared over the railing and her footfalls echoed down the metallic hallway.

Ezra took a moment to stand still, listening to the Ghost's familiar humm as he was left to himself again, letting the conversation they'd just had, sink into his brain. He was surprised to realize it was possibly one of the longest conversions he'd had with Sabine without hitting on her.

"In my pants." he muttered in a flat tone, a smile slowly pulling at his lips. He bent to collect his tools off the floor. "I gotta remember that for next time."

Preferably for when he was out Sabine's kicking range.

* * *

**R&amp;R** for good Karma and more Sezra bonding


	6. The Talk

AN: hello, I am not dead. Just working on something bigger for you all. I hope you like it. I'm also running my stuff past beta's now so there should be far less typos and it should help make the reading experience a bit smoother for everyone.

WARNINGS to anyone with sensitive ideals towards sex education, parental discussion or masturbation- Its the whole subject of this short.

This is just me running with a silly idea. Enjoy the fluff. Hope you all enjoy watching Kanan squirm.

**The _Talk_**

* * *

Zeb gave five hard thumps on the closed door.

"I swear kid." he growled, "If you don't get out here right now-"

Sabine didn't even glance up as she walked past. "You know he's just going to take even longer if he knows its annoying you." she said in a light tone as she withdrew into her bunk for the evening.

Zeb let out a low angry rumble, and pulled himself away from the fresher door with a huff.

He sank into a seat across from Kanan in the commons space. Chopper hummed as he hovered a claw over the pieces, carefully identifying the best course of action. Zeb growled under his breath and shot Kanan a caged look.  
"You gotta talk to the kid about how long he spends in the fresher."

Kanan raised a brow, but did not lift his eyes up from his game of holochess He had Chopper backed into the corner for once and the astromech was only three calculated moves from defeat. "You're the one that shares a bunk with him, I'd think you'd want him clean."

Chopper chirped happily as he directed his holopiece into place- exactly as Kanan had predicted. The Jedi smiled and moved his own pieces into place. Two moves left.

Zeb huffed and tossed his head back over his shoulder. "I don't think he's cleanin' up in there at this point."

Kanan looked up, distracted, and seeing the Lasat's raised brow he gaffed as he got the hint. "Zeb! Don't suggest that!" he hissed. Sometimes the lasats sense of humour could be distasteful at best.

The lasat began to laugh at the Jedi's reaction, "S'perfecly natural, Kanan." he said with a shrug and a wide Cheshire grin. "Never figured you for a prude."

Kanan struggled, "_No_\- but- you-"

Chopper buzzed in amusement as he made his next move on the board.

Zeb continued, chuckling at Kanan's failure to speak. "I heard Jedi were celibate- I figured that would be the obvious solution."

Kanan was aghast- "_Zeb_\- really-"

"Don't worry," Zeb said, his grin almost glowing. "I'm sure it'll do more to relax him then your meditation lessons."

Before Kanan could argue, the fresher door opened with a hiss and Ezra stepped out. His flight suit pulled down to his hips and wearing a towel around his neck, catching the drips of his wet hair.

"Ok, Muscles- it's all yours." he said, fighting off a yawn.

When no one replied he looked up at the table to see both men and the droid starting at him.

"What?"

Zeb chuckled and stood up with a stretch. "Nothing kid. You just look nice and _relaxed_. That's all."

"Uh, thanks?" Ezra said, warily.

Kanan pressed his palm over his forehead and willed the migraine away before it could start. Zeb laughed raucously and clapped Ezra heavily on the shoulder as he passed. He was still chuckling as the fresher door closed.

"What's his problem?" Ezra demanded, pointing a thumb over his shoulder.

Kanan shook his head and focused his eyes on his game. "Trust me, you don't want to know."

"Right." Ezra said slowly, eyeing the holochess board. Kanan felt the silence pressing and quickly made his next move-

Chopper reacted with his next direction before Kanan could react "No- wait! I had you!" Kanan shouted, But Chopper had already pulled away, mechanical arms in the air as he woop'd loudly. Completing a victory lap of the galley and coming to a stop by Jedi's legs.

"Ugh." Kanan growled and sank back into his seat.

Ezra shook his head, "I think you need to relax, Master."

His master's head jerked up, eyes wide.  
Ezra shrugged, not quiet comprehending why the man was so on edge. "What?"

Kanan had had enough of this layered conversation, he could almost still hear Zeb's chuckling through the walls.  
"Nothing, just go- meditate or something." he said quickly, heading for the cockpit.

As he made is escape he heard Ezra turn to the droid. "Something, I said?"

Chopper let out a string of accusatory blips that suggested yes- it was.

* * *

Kanan slid into his seat alongside Hera with a sigh of relief. The quite of the cockpit was a haven from the dim conversational clutter of the rest of the ship. The Lothal sun was setting and it put a honeyed glow through the cloud line as Hera lazily picked an open prairie to set the ship down for the night.

"What's all the noise back there?" She asked, flashing him a grin. "Though, I think I can guess..."

Kanan snorted. "I don't think you'd like to." She gave him a questioning tilt but he shook his head. "No really, Zeb has a dirty mind sometimes."

"Ah." Hera said knowingly, and sank back against her chair with a smile. "Did he tell the one about the 'Twi'lek, the Wookie and the Sullustan are stuck in a mud pit' again? I swear I was so mad when he told it to me. I felt awful for laughing so hard."

Kanan's mouth quirked. "No- but remind me to ask him to retell it." after a moment he added, "Ideally when Ezra isn't within hearing range."

Hera smiled warmly into the golden sky line. "Love, I hate to break it to you. But I think Ezra might've been the one that told it to Zeb in the first place. I think it might have been better when they didn't get along so well, conspiring behind our backs."

Kanan fussed and folded his arms across his chest. He didn't like to think about what dirty jokes the boy might know. Jedi weren't supposed to know _or_ tell dirty jokes- they were above that sort of thing.

Then again, he and Ezra, well they weren't exactly living by the Jedi code as it was. Was a dirty joke every now and then the worst of their sins?

Ezra knew more about the depravity of the galaxy then Kanan would like already, but he couldn't admit the kids street wise skills hadn't been a boon to their team on occasion.

Ezra certainly knew how to talk himself in- and sometime out of- a situation.

Only the week before, he'd walked straight into an imperial official on the street, apologizing profusely. He'd then struck up a short conversation about the academy an how the boy dreamed one day he might be able to quit his job and join the pilot school- if only his mother wasn't dreadfully sick and needed daily care.

The official had been annoyed at first, but he was quickly turned around by Ezra's apparent honestly and dutiful nature. He'd wished the boy well and hoped his mother recovered very soon- and perhaps then Ezra might be able to join the TIE flight academy. All while Ezra had picked the data chip straight out of his pocket and lifted his fancy chronometer right off his wrist, just to prove he could, Kanan suspected.  
They'd gotten away without so much as a blaster going off- which was a rare success for the Ghost crew.

Between the kid's big blues and his infectious cocky smile- he had a certain charm that got his foot into most doors where no one might suspect to be wary of the boy.

It was childlike, _for now_, Kanan thought. But he could see the beginnings of a very dangerous flirt budding in the awkward teen.

He briefly felt sorry for any girls Ezra might run across in the future, when he might have a squarer jaw, grown a few inches and likely be a little wiser to the social cues of the feminine persuasion. If his disastrous attempts to work on Sabine's defences were any indication; he had a lot to learn.

But, suddenly, it hit Kanan that the image he foresaw might not be so far in the future as he would have liked.

The boy had grown a few centimetres in the last few months or so and he was now starting to catch up to Sabine's height. It was largely suspected a steady diet was the cause of his sudden growth spurts, and Ezra just seemed happy to be growing up- not out. He liked crawling through the walls,_ thankyou_ very much.

Ezra was growing up, and at a rate faster than Kanan felt prepared to handle.

All of this began to circumvent a rather uncomfortable fact that was slowly dawing on the Jedi; Ezra was at a rather delicate point in his youth.

Kanan remembered what that time had been like for him, though he'd been a little more distracted with survival and all. He was still resettling into his new life then, trying to put his past behind him and leave it there. He did odd jobs, bouncing around the galaxy from freighter to freighter. Doing odd jobs, pulling his load and keeping his head down.

Denial and ignorance had been very two important tools that had kept Kanan alive and functioning back then. His lightsaber hidden away in pieces- he had never truly been able to discard it, and of that he was grateful- but he had adapted to his blaster quickly enough and wore it slung on his belt with cowboy pride.

But he still remembered the first time a pretty Zeltron girl had asked him what his name was. He'd been so thrown by her bright purple eyes and soft pink curves that he'd almost told her what it'd used to be. He laughed when he stumbled on his words.

"Ca-nan. Kanan Jarrus."

She giggled and bright him cold citric juice on his break.  
And when he was done loading her grandfather's cargo van, how she'd taken him by the hand and lead him inside and...

Kanan shook his head quickly, he could already feel his cheeks beginning to burn.

"What's wrong, Love?" Hera asked, her voice light and casual.

She knew! Kanan whirled in his chair, doing his best to hide his sudden flush with a serious grimace.

"I was just thinking, should we- uh," his tongue folded in his mouth as he scrambled to find the right words.

"Yes?" Hera pressed, eyes on the open sea of clouds before them.

"Do you think... should we, uh, talk, with Ezra?" His words came out punctuated at the wrong intervals and his face began to burn again- but now for a different reason.

She gave him a glance, raising one eye brow. "Why? What has he done?"

Kanan let out a frustrated breath and pushed his palm into his forehead. "No- I mean, should we have a _talk_ with him?"

Hera waved a hand, rolling it in the air to indicating he should expand.

"_The_ Talk!" He hissed, voice low. Kanan did not want the rest of the crew to walk in the middle of this conversation. "Do you think we- y'know- should have_ that_ discussion with him?"

Hera parted her lip and made an 'O' with her mouth

"_The_ Talk." She repeated, finally catching on and nodding thoughtfully. She didn't seem anywhere near as uncomfortable with this as Kanan. Hera keyed in the auto pilot system and turned her chair to face him directly.  
"Do you think he needs it?"

"Well-" Kanan left it there for a moment while his thoughts squirmed uncomfortably and his hands fidgeted in his lap. "He's fifteen now." was all he could find to say.

"And you have the talk at fifteen?" She asked calmly, clearly enjoying how awkward the subject made the Jedi.

Kanan shot her a look, but it quickly dissolved into a defeated grimace. "I kinda- learnt most of it on the fly, I guess you could say." he sighed and knelt his elbows on his knees.

He missed the slight crack in Hera's expression but she pushed through any irrational jealously with force. "Did you have someone to talk to?"

"Well, I just- I still had everyone around me until, _that_ day." Kanan did his best not to let his voice dip into a darker tone and Hera reached out a hand and squeezed his shoulder.

"I had people I could ask questions. I had the other Padawan's too. I had my master-" Kanan's voice grew tight and Hera's grip on his shoulder tightened along with it.

Kanan swallowed, let out one long breath and forced his jaw to relax. Then did the same for the rest of his body.

Looking up into Hera's eyes he offered her a weak smile before continuing. "I had an education and I had people to look up too. Ezra had been alone since he was seven. That's-" he paused, twisting his mouth as he tried to find the right words. "I can't imagine how confused I would have been if I were in his shoes."

"Then perhaps we should, have a talk I mean, maybe not _the_ talk- but we can find out where he stands."

Kanan nodded along with her slowly at first and then with more vigour. "Yeah."  
His bobbing ceased suddenly and grimaced. "You'll be there right?"

Hera let out an amused snort, "please- you'd wriggle your way out if I'm not there to keep an eye on you."

He smiled, a weight lifting off his mind to a lesser degree, If Hera was there she could broach the subject for him. She was a much better peace keeper the he was, and Ezra always responded well to her genuine and open approach.

They lapsed into silence. Riding out the quiet for another mile, or so before Kanan broke it with a heavy sigh.

"It should be his parents having this conversation." he said in rough voice. "Not us."

Hera's hands tightened on the helm for a beat.  
"Yes." she said quietly. "It should."

* * *

The next day began quietly. Parking the Ghost on a ridge a little ways out from Central City as the second moon set and the sun rose.

The crew assembled for their morning meal at their own pace and ate in relative silence. Kanan was already on his third cup of caff and Hera sat quietly chewing her own breakfast while reading a datapad in her other hand.

"Where's chopper?" Ezra asked, breaking the quiet and drawing attention to the astomechs absence.

Kanan gave Hera a look. "He's down in the undercarriage. We need an updated system check." Hera answered simply.

Zeb grunted into his empty bowl and pushed it away from his full belly. "I thought it was too peaceful."

"Yeah- waking up without electrocution, it's almost unsettling." Ezra added with a snort.

"I can go get my taser, if you like." Sabine said with a smile. "If you both miss it that much."

Ezra pretender to think hard about this before shaking his head. "Better not. Chops definitely the jealous type. He'd be pretty put out if you replaced him as head torturer."

The crew began to finish breakfast, and began to start their daily routines.

"Sabine, Zeb," Hera asked, putting down her datapad. "Could you both head into Central for supplies? The inventory numbers are in the Cargo hold."

Sabine nodded and went to retrieve her helmet from her room and Zeb grunted acknowledgements.

"What'd you need from me today?" Ezra asked, lifting his face up from his clean plate. "Are we training?" he looked to Kanan, who frowned pensively.

"Yes- but not for now. Later."

Ezra shrugged, It wasn't unusual for Kanan to save training for the afternoons after the daily business had been conducted.

"Ok, I'll go with them then and be back later." Ezra said, pointing a thumb towards the Zeb and Sabine and made a move to collect his backpack from his room.

"No. We need you here." Kanan said sharply.

The tone made Ezra pause.

"Why?" he asked straightening up, then he sighed heavily. "Ugh- _don't_ make me work in the belly with Chop. He always tries to gas me! I'll end up rotting in the vents and then no one will be happy. Can't Zeb help him and I'll go with Sabine, instead?" His voice rose a little at the end of his complaint, hopeful.

Zeb huffed a smile and Sabine shook her helmet with a hand on each hip.

"No. Just- we need to talk." Kanan said, risking a glance at Hera.

The glance, put a bubble of unease in his stomach, but Ezra ignored it, and cocked his head to the side. "Talk?" he repeated.

Kanan looked to Hera for help again. This was off to an awful start.  
She smiled wryly and indicated Ezra should sit back down.

"Kanan and I just wanted to have a quick word, that's all."

Anxiety bloomed in his chest. Ezra immediately sank back into his seat, shoulders limp and face stony. "Why? What have I done?" His voice was suddenly tight and he gripped the edge of the table.

"You haven't done anything-" Hera cut in kindly, putting a hand out and laying it gently on top of Ezras white knuckles. But she cut off her own words when he jerked his hands away before she could put any firmness into the gesture.

"Just tell me what I did." He demanded shortly.

She looked to Kanan in surprise and when no one answered him, Ezra turned his eyes down and began boring hole through his shoes.

"Uh- we'll just be going then." Zeb said awkwardly, making a move towards the cargo hold.

Sabine stood for a moment, sending a worried look towards Ezra, who was too busy staring hard into the floor and missed it. Zeb saw her hesitation to leave and took her by the wrist, jolting her at first before she made to follow him. "We'll be back later." he said an overly casual voice and disappeared down the hall.

It was quiet for a moment while they heard the cargo ramp lowering, and the sound of two speeders firing up and moving away from the ship.

"You're not in trouble, Ezra." Hera began calmly. Sensing things weren't off to a great start.

Ezra's voice answered, a little softer than before but carried a hard edge.  
"Are you kicking me out?"

"What?" Kanan snapped up, starting at the boy's hard eyes. "No! Why- why would you think that?"

The boy dropped his eyes into his lap again, lifting one limp shoulder and dropping it in response. "You've never wanted to talk like this before." he said in a smaller voice, the battle ready tone softening but not leaving entirely.

Kanan frowned "We talk all the time."

Ezra's eyes shifted towards Hera and then back into his lap. "Not with Hera here. Not sitting down. Not sending Zeb and Sabine and Chopper away first. I figured I'd done something wrong and..." he didn't finish the sentence.

Kanan let out a hard sigh and rubbed his eyes. He hadn't considered Hera's sudden introduction to their little 'talks' would look like at first. He'd insisted on having her here for support, and _not_ simply because he might lose his nerve otherwise. But now he saw it through Ezra's eyes for a moment- and yes, they must have looked like a grim united front.

Hera held back for three whole seconds before standing up, moving around the table and slipped into the seat on Ezra's left.

He looked up and shifted over in surprise as she forced her way into the space beside him- essentially trapping him in the booth between her and Kanan.

"Ezra-" she began in a serious, gentle voice. "I promise you, we wanted to talk. But not about you leaving- we'd never want that."

Ezra shifted uncomfortably in his seat, putting a hand up and ruffling his hair. "well- okay." he said, letting out a deep breath and lifting his eyes to hers. "I'm sorry. I just, got ahead of myself." His voice was sheepish.

He put both hands flat on the table, partly to keep himself from fidgeting and gave them both a serious look. "What did you want to talk about?"

Hera looked to Kanan, and Ezra followed her lead. "Kanan?"

Kanan felt his mouth immediately dry up and his tongue

"I- uh-" Blast it, man. He could face down the inquisitor, but he couldn't talk to his own Padawan about the facts of life? Kanan cleared his throat and steeled his jaw.

"Ezra, you're growing up." He began. Yes, that sounded good. "You're getting older and now that you've reached a certain age, we-I thought it was time we... talked about..." Refocus, he shouted inwardly. Where was he trying to go with this? "That we talked about your body."

Every part of Kanan shuddered at the awful word placement. How could he spout Jedi wisdom but fail to discuss basic biology with dignity?

"My body?" Ezra frowned. "Is there something wrong with me?" His eyes went a little wide and he looked to Hera for assurance. She was shaking her head ever so slightly at Kanan, her mouth pursed her brows raised.

"No- No." Kanan said quickly, trying to backtrack. "I- what I mean is-"

"Am I sick? Is that what this is about?" Ezra demanded, now fully turned towards Hera in worry. "Hera?"

"Ezra, you're not sick!" Kanan shouted a little in panic, trying to regain a hold of the discussion. This was going awfully. "This is about girls and-" Quick, what else was it about? "Long showers" _Oh no_.

Ezra just looked more confused, head cocked to one side. "Huh?"

"Sex!" Kanan shouted, slapping his hands on the table in frustration.

There was a long beat of confused and painful silence.

Ezra blinked, realization slowly dawning on his face along as his eyes widened and he smiled.  
"Oh! Is that all!" he answered happily, sitting back in the booth and visibly relaxing for the first time since he'd retaken his seat.

Kanan stared, blinking and face blank completely confused by the response.

"Well?" Ezra prompted. "What do you wanna know?"

Kanan stared, and it felt like a large part of his brain function had just shut down.

Hera's mouth quirked at the corners, and she cleared her throat. "I think what Kanan is trying very hard to say, Ezra- is that, we're aware you're at a very sensitive age. Boys- well human boys in particular, go through a lot of changes at that time and we just wanted you to know you can come to us with any questions and we will do our best to answer them."

Ezra nodded along softly as she spoke and when she was finished he gave her a brilliant smile."Don't worry Hera, I know I'm not the most educated kid in the galaxy- but I'm not the slowest." he shot Kanan a fleeting grin. "But there's _a lot_ you can learn on the streets."  
He decided then and there he wouldn't tell her exactly where most of the information had come from. The girls that worked in the pleasure houses were usually a wellsping of educational tid-bits and advice for the adorable street boy who would use his manners when he spoke to them. Sometimes if he brought them a few extra yoogans with him, they'd allow him a few cups of wine and it was always be a good evening after that.  
But Era dint think Hera would have the same regard for them as he might.

Still, his boasts clearly didn't give Hera the confidence in him that he'd aimed for, judging by the look she gave Kanan.

"We'll as comforting as that is, I'd like to know you have the _right_ information." She said diplomatically.

Ezra's smile vanished. "We don't _really_ have to talk right? I know it all, I promise!" He looked to Kanan for help, eyes showing a little panic at the idea. He wasn't embarrassed to talk about sex or any of the uncomfortable details that came with it- but he did not what to have that conversation with his Master or Hera any more then he wanted to have it with Zeb. A friend his own age maybe, but not the people he saw over the breakfast table everyday.

Kanan saw Ezra's attention turn to him and reached into the empty space in his mind where he usually found words. He looked to Hera for help, and saw her prompting him with very slight tilt to her jaw. Oh_ force_, what had happened to the brave confidant Jedi he knew on the battlefield?  
"So you- uh- know where babies come from?" he asked, dumbly, inwardly shriveling.

"Of course." Ezra said quickly, nodding.

Kanan let out a sigh of relief.

"They come from the butt right?"

His head snapped up and Ezra dissolved into laughter. "Ok- don't worry, Kanan." he said, tone turning serious.

"I _know_ babies don't come from the butt. I know you can catch some awful things if you're not smart. And I know sex is for love; not for fun."

Hera sat up straight and smiled proudly. "That's right." she said with a firm nod.  
"There's more to it of course," she added, giving Ezra a serious eye, "but I'll be happy to leave this here, as long as I know you will come to us with any questions, right?"

He smiled, fussed with the back of his head. "Yeah, I will. I know your here if I need you."

The boy looked away as his cheeks burned away furiously and he knotted his fingers in his lap. Admitting he could depend on them was still new, and it gave his heart a little jump each time he said it, a little scared, a little excited.

He missed Hera shoot Kanan a happy smile, and the returning soft quirk of the Jedi's mouth. To hear such trust in Ezra's voice, it was always a boon. Maybe they weren't doing such a bad job after all if they could help this hardened boy open up.

The awkwardness melted away from the air, and the peace suddenly reminded Ezra that someone was missing.  
"Did you stow Chop in the undercarriage just so you've have peace to ambush me?" he demanded, his voice tipping on amusement.

Here's smile turned into a flat knowing look. "Would you rather he was here to record the conversation?"

Ezra swiftly shook his head. "_No_, no. He's good where he is." He lent back into his seat with a crooked grin, folding his arms, now in a comfortable gesture instead of a defensive one. "Honestly, I'm just glad you made sure Zeb was busy."

"And maybe Sabine?" Hera asked innocently with a wry smile.

Ezra's eye went a little wide at the idea, then he returned Hera's expression. "Yeah- _maybe_ Sabine. You'll tell them we talked about Jedi stuff though right?" the boy pressed, looking between them for assurance. Kanan just blinked.

Hera nodded, amused. "Of course. _Jedi stuff_."

Ezra sighed in relief. She turned to Kanan, saw he was still struggling to react and rolled her eyes.  
"Alright, then." Hera said, standing and moving towards the door and giving Kanan a meaningful look. "Good talk." She squeezed his shoulder and the blind-sighted expression on his face finally seemed to melt away.

Then she disappeared up into the cockpit shaking her head.

Ezra shifted in his seat a little, looking everywhere that wasn't his Master, his hands fussing with his hair.

While he hoped to never repeat this powerfully awkward conversation ever again, he appreciated that they'd tried. It was nice to think they'd gone to all the trouble that they'd worried about him. It put a pleasant warm buzz in his chest that made him feel light in the head.  
Kanan was focusing deep into his cold caff, and Ezra decided not to punish the man for his embarrassment- at least not right away. He'd throw him a bone first.  
"So- uh, since that's sorted, how about some training?" Ezra asked casually.

Kanan took one long deep breath. He lay down his cup, putting his hands flat against the table and stiffly came to his feet. The colour hadn't quite gone from his cheeks yet- but he seemed like he might actually be able to look Ezra in the eye soon.  
"Yes. Training." he said shortly, and immediately headed for the roof of the ship.

Ezra grinned and followed his Master. Ezra would follow Kanan anywhere.

* * *

R&amp;R for Good karma and to restore Kanan's honor.


	7. Brothers in Bunks

This one was too large for a single chapter so it will be posted in parts. The ending is all but edited but i wanted you all know know I was still updating these. It feels a bit OOc but its just character work.  
I'm working on something of a larger scale atm that I hope you will all like.

This chapter was for Zeb, because he's awesome and I want to know more about him. I want to know about Lassan and how Zeb escaped the Empire.  
Ezra is a bit of a pansy here- but hey, a kids got issues. Do you want more?

**Brothers In Bunks I**

* * *

Zeb couldn't fall back to sleep.

He'd been dead on his feet when he'd collapsed into his bunk. Sleeping right through dinner, a deep dreamless and unmoving sleep. The mission had been a long weary day full of the usual running from troopers and skirmishes. Dodging laser blasts, doing his best not get fried. At one point, as it always did, everything went to hell when the troopers had received a transport tank full of backup. The Ghost crew had escaped, but not without a fight. Zeb had gotten his hands on the tanks turret and had a great deal of satisfaction while he blew everything full of holes. Zeb lived by his BO rifle, but there was something funny about turning the Imps weapons back on them. Even better when it was a large turret that jolted with aftershock with every blast. It had been a good day, really, but exhausting.  
The former honor guard just wanted to sleep for a week to recuperate, before leaping back into the fray.

But he'd been woken after only six or so hours of rest, by Ezra's infernal movement and irregular breathing.

Usually Ezra was a sound sleeper, until a pin dropped and he would spring into waking.  
Zeb was the opposite. He could sleep through a blaster fight if he was tired enough.

So he lay half-awake for several moments in hazy confusion, trying to determine what exactly had woken him from his sorely needed rest. It wasn't Chopper, for once, and the kid was in his bunk- but not asleep, Zeb realized.

At first Zeb thought the kid was just having trouble falling asleep, tossing about in his bed, making rustling noises and huffing his breaths.

Then an uncomfortable thought occurred that maybe the kid might actually be seeing to 'personal needs'. He was at that age after all.

But while Zeb agreed that it was perfectly healthy to tend to ones needs - He strongly wished Ezra would have waited till Zeb wasn't in the room with him.

But those suspicions were quickly cleared out when Zeb heard a quiet but clear voice say:  
"... don't..."

The word put a cold knife through his heart.

"...No..."

Now Zeb could hear the sobs between shaky gasps of air and the shifting of blankets as the boy in the bunk above him rolled.

"...stop!"

Was Ezra crying? Zeb felt the knife of discomfort twist in the other direction, from awkward to helpless. Zeb wasn't a touchy-freely sort of guy! His emotional range extended from dark amusement to all out berserker rage.

He had no idea how to deal with a crying boy! Least of all one as guarded and temperament as Ezra. He was likely to say the entirely the wrong thing and then the kid would be in a strop for a week and-

"...no- Stop."

The tone of Ezra's ragged breaths changed and Zeb sat up a little on his elbows, cocking an ear to the bunk above.  
Ezra's movements had changed from discomforted tossing into a gentle struggle against something unseen.

"St-stop! Leave me alone! " his voice was ragged and came out in breathless shouts. He was going to wake the rest of the ship up at this rate.  
Enough was enough. Temper be damned the kid needed to calm down.

Zeb rolled out of his bunk onto his feet and turned on his heels.

Ezra was on his back, eyes squeezed shut, snapping and rolling his head from side to side. Both arms up in defence, flinching and twitching. His cheeks glistened in the low bunk lighting and Zeb could smell sweat and- fear?

What in the Huttspit was the kid dreaming about?

The kid was clearly having a nightmare, but Zeb was still anxious about waking him. Ezra was not the most easily calmed and what was Zeb supposed to say to the kid once he was awake?! Give him a pat on the head? Say: It's ok kid, just a dream?

Ezra muttered fitfully into his shoulder- then suddenly gnashed his teeth together and made a strangled whimper of pain.

Zeb steeled his jaw and reached out- whatever the kid was dreaming of was not pleasant. Whatever might happen once he was awake, that was surely preferable to this.  
But as Zeb's large hand lifted to Ezra's face- The boys words faded into an unintelligible slur and then into silence. His movements began to slow and his struggling ceased.

Zeb, hesitated, hoping perhaps the nightmare had passed in that moment as the boy stilled.

And then Ezra clenched his face tight, hands fisting in the blankets and pulling his body into a ball.

"_please_." he whispered, his verve of his voice was small and broken. "Stop."

Zeb had never heard Ezra ask politely for anything. Sure, he said thanks occasionally, but he usually just took something if he wanted it. Old habits die hard.  
Asking for permission was not kids' first instinct.

So to hear the kid begging, in a small voice for some awful mental torture to end... It put an uncomfortable knot deep his gut.

Zeb lay a hand on the boys shoulder, meaning to shake him gently awake- but the moment his fingers curled around the kids' collarbone; Ezra's eyes shot open and he jerked back with a gasp, slapping Zebs hand away with a loud fierce cry and shouted.

"No! Don't touch me!" The boy pressed his back up against the wall of his bunk, eyes wide and darting around the room. They landed on Zeb and immediately narrowed into in angry scowl. "What the Frak do you think you're doing?! Get away from me!"

Zeb withdrew, taking a step back in surprise. He scowled, more out of habit then true anger, but this was just about as well as he expected waking the kid to go.

"You were havin' a nightmare kid." he answered in a low voice, hoping Ezra would realize where he was now and relax.

"No I wasn't." Ezra snapped angrily, chest heaving. "You probably woke me up with your snoring! Now back off!"

Zeb snorted and took a step closer, putting his hands out to placate the argument. He's had far too little sleep for this. "Look, I was just trying to help, kid. Calm down-"

"Then Back. Off." Ezra snapped, cutting him off. "I wasn't having no nightmare." the kid almost spat his words, fury boiling in his eyes.

Zeb had been rather gentle till now, but he did not deserve the kid's attitude. Dammit- he'd done the right thing, and this was the thanks he got? Denial was stronger with this kid then any Force that's for sure.

"Look, kid." Zeb grit out between clenched teeth, "You we're crying out in yer' sleep and begging something to stop-"

"No! I wasn't!" Ezra shouted, voice reaching maximum volume, eyes going wide. "You're lying! You're a liar!"

Zeb put a hand out, partly to put a hand over the kid's mouth to quieten him before his panic woke everyone on Lothal, and partly because he sensed the fight or flight instinct rising in the kid's wide eyes and knew what the boy was likely to choose.

As it happened. Ezra did both. As soon as Zeb had reached for him, Ezra threw out his hands and shoved Zeb with an all mighty push.

Luckily for Zeb, Ezra hadn't used the force to do it- but while the boy's hard shove was almost nothing on Zebs solid frame- he did rock back on his heels, caught off guard by the attack.

Ezra took advantage of the split moment delay in Zebs reaction and leapt off his bunk, rolling to his knees and springing back onto his feet. In a few short flurries of moment, the kid had swung his backpack over one shoulder, and snatched his boots up in one hand.

"Karablast!" Zeb cursed loudly, jerking into action and trying to grab the boy as he weaved around him and grabbed his helmet off the desk, tucking it under his arm. "Kid wait-"

The door to their cabin opened just as Ezra spun to face it: the only escape route. It was blocked by a dishevelled and angry Kanan.

"What the hell is going on in here?! It's almost mid-"

"Kanan!" Zeb shouted, pointing to the Jedi- Ezra had already ducked under Kanan's arm and bounced off the adjacent wall and kept going.

"What- Ezra! Where are you going?!" Kanan shouted, moving to follow and running into Sabine as she came running out of her own room, drawn out by the shouting, followed by Hera across from Kanan's open cabin door.

Chopper rolled into view at the end of the corridor, just in time for Ezra to leap over the astromech- who needlessly ducked down and trilled a series of expletive beeps at the fleeing boy.

"Ezra?" Hera called out, seeing the boy's back vanish around the hallway. She glanced at Kanan and Sabine, who looked as confused as she felt- and rounded on Zeb as he drew level with the door frame with a bewildered look on his face.

"What happened? She demanded. Kanan snapped around with his own hard look for the Lasat.

"That's what I'd like to know."

Zeb shot both hands up and growled as his face turned fierce, "Don't give me that! This ain't my fault!"

"What happened?!" Hera pressed, taking a step close into The Lasats space with a pointed finger. "Garazeb Orrelios-"

"I didn't do anything!" he hissed, leaning into the challenge. "The kid just snapped alright? I-"

His voice was drowned out by the sound of the cargo hatchway opening and a speeder bike firing up.  
Sabine and Kanan exchanged a look before throwing themselves down the hallway towards the cargo hold.  
The sound of the speeder had already began to drain away by the time they'd reached the empty space.

The hatchway was left open into the night and the buzz of the bike rapidly fading into the distance as it made ground between it and the Ghost.

Kanan took in in one, long, heavy breath as he looked out into the dark night. The ghost was parked a good two days ground travel from the nearest city in the middle of the grasslands that covered Lothal. There was little to nothing out there for many miles. Wherever Ezra was going, or fleeing rather; he wasn't going to reach it on a speeder bike tonight.

Sabine took a step further out on the hatch, her skin prickling in the chill of the night, straining her eyes to see what direction Ezra might have sped off in. From the sound of it he might've gone straight east- but she couldn't be sure. She should have brought her scanners down, then she; might be able to pick him out in the distance-

A heavy hand rested on her shoulder, and she jerked in surprise, looking up to see Kanan- his eyes searching the darkness as well.  
"Come on." he said in a grounded voice and leading her back upstairs.

Hera had herded the former honor guard into a seat in the galley, and was, for lack of a better word, interrogating him. Her hands flat on the table and her face a mask of barely contained anger.  
"You must have done something!" she snapped- making everyone flinch. The tone of her voice was usually one reserved for when a situation had taken a very bad turn, and no one wanted to be on the receiving end.

Zeb covered his face with his large hands and scrubbed at his eyes, groaning loudly. "For the last blastin' time- he was having a nightmare. I woke 'im up coz he was crying out in his sleep."

He dropped his hands and met Hera's angry eyes with his own tired ones, no less furious. "When he woke up he went all feral and started shoutin' at me."

Chopper pinged and waved a mechanical arm, but no one paid him any attention.

"What kind of nightmare?" Kanan demanded, cutting off Hera's response.

Zeb lowered his gaze, deflating a little in front of their eyes. "The bad kind- I don't know. He didn't say now, did he! He wouldn't admit he'd had one- all I said was he did and he just panics and shoves me away and did a runner." The Lasat lifted his eyes once again to Hera's, this time without the fury. "I was tryin' to do the right thing wakin' him. Not scare the kid off." he turned his eyes back down on the table and heaved a sigh. After a moment of silence he added. "It sounded like he was in pain."

The words hung in the air between the four, Chopper hummed quietly at Hera's side and she exchanged a long look that overflowed with worry with Kanan.  
After a moment of silent communication, he nodded very slightly and turned to Sabine. "Let's go get your scanners." and he followed her out of the room.

Hera waited a beat, and then sank down into her seat at the table. She offered Zeb an apologetic face and lay a gentle green hand over his grey ones.  
"I'm sorry I snapped." she began.

Zeb shook his head absently. "No- I- I just ain't good with kids." His frown deepened for a moment. "Not when they need hugs and kisses."

Hera, despite herself and the mournful situation, laughed a little. "I don't think Ezra would have appreciated it if you tried anyway."

Zeb lifted his lips briefly, though he let the smile drop away almost instantly. But the cloud was gone now, and now there was something that needed doing. He put his hand against the table and pushed himself to his feet.

"We better go find the Kid then." he said, offering Hera a hand and pulling her up. "Before he finds trouble."

The pilot smiled wryly, "You know he insists it finds him."

"Then let's find him first."

* * *

TBC

R&amp;R for Good Karma and more Zeb :3


	8. Brothers in Bunks II

Sorry for the wait guys. This became all about Zeb and I'm worried I didn't get he quite right in the next two chapter so I was putting it off till it felt right. Still not a conclusion for you, but that will come.

Thank you for all the feedback guys! It really does push results.  
Teenage angst ahead. I don't really feel like this is a reaction Ezra might ever have in the show- Running away maybe, but maybe not with such misdirection. If he runs away from the crew- it will be something big, and he's trying to do the honorable thing... I'll stop creating countless AU's one day.

**Brother in Bunks II**

* * *

Ezra drove the speeder in the first direction he got the nose pointed straight, and then kept going.

The grassy prairies of Lothal were as a familiar backdrop to him as the stars were now. The sea of rippling fields kept him grounded. His entire youth had been spent running wild through the grasslands. It didn't really matter which direction he went in- he'd be able to find his way no matter where he went.

He didn't belong in the stars, he belonged here on the solid earth, far away from anyone who would question him, or back him into a corner. Alone, he wanted to be alone, because that's what he deserved.

He past another rock formation and turned the bike at high speed just a little to the left. The lack of landmarks or destination meant Ezra could simply let his mind go blank as he pushed on the thrust- forcing the bike into top speed. The grasses whipped past and he was glad he'd managed to snag his helmet during his escape or he would be having trouble taking in air at this rate.

He road on until the sky began to lighten into an opaline grey, streaked with blue. The first moon of Lothal dipped below the horizon while the second moon hovered in the last hours of nightfall. He turned the speeder occasionally, dodging rocky outcrops or the occasional sharp ridge in the hillsides.

Ezra was doing an excellent job of _not_ thinking- which was taking a lot of mental willpower and focus.  
Kanan would have been impressed!- except that Ezra had just run away from Kanan. From Zeb. From Hera, Sabine and Chopper. From the first true home and family he'd known in eight long years-

The nose of the speeder caught on a ridge in the ground- or maybe Ezra had accentually leant a little too hard on the handles and steered it downwards- either way, the speeder was tripped and Ezra was thrown from his seat and into the air.

He landed hard on his shoulder, but he had already pulled his head against his chest and tucked his knees under him, so he bounced hard a few times, knocking the air clean out of him. But he pushed through the momentum and act up the impact, before he rolled to an awkward stop in the grass.

Ezra lay still for a moment, taking a mental check-list of his aching but surprisingly intact body, and sitting up with a hard breath. He couldn't take in enough air through the helmet filter and tore the thing off his head. He thre it away from himself in a sudden rage and let out a frustrated shout as he did it. He heard the helmet connect with something hard and ricochet into the grass.

Everything- Everything was wrong now!

Ezra darkly willed for a Trooper to suddenly appear right here an now, because he badly wanted to put his fists through something. Maybe

Ezra stumbled to his feet and scrubbed angrily at the moister on his cheeks- which was defiantly just sweat and not tears. Because only children cried and Ezra had not been a child for a very long time...

His heart suddenly ached and it made his blood boil again- He longed to fight something. Anything. Anyone.

And at the same time, he yearned for comfort, a warm hand or a soft touch.

No. There was no such think as a soft touch now. He'd blown it all up by like one of Sabine's bombs. There was only fury and a hot anger that bloomed in his chest and put a fire in his cheeks.

Something pricked at the back of his neck. Ezra spun on his feet, tensed, ready to attack, but instead took a step back in surprise.

The mountain of rock spiraled upwards before him and Ezra was reminded of the Jedi temple of Lothal, buried somewhere on the polar side of the world. This rock formation was no where near as big, and clearly just a rock this time- but it was still intimidating. It sat in the center of five or six smaller formations, towering over them like the oldest and wisest. It loomed impressively in the dim dawn light, a dark pillar into the sky.

The prickle in the back of his mind became a burn, and his spine rattled. His fingers twitched at his sides.

There was no one here to fight with now, so he would do the next best thing and dominate the mountain. He liked heights, he wanted to keep moving.

Ezra ran for the base in a sudden rush, his backpack jumping on his back with each step. He threw himself into the stone, put one hand flat on the rock, digging his fingers into a horizontal groove. He grit his teeth and pulled himself up.  
Slowly, Ezra began to climb.

Sabine pointed right, following the direction on her scanners and Kanan turned the ship.

"How do we even know he's out here?" Zeb demanded, hovering over Kanan's right shoulder. "I mean- this is pretty far out."

"Oh he's out here alright." Kanan said unflinchingly.

"A little more." Sabine indicated, and Kanan turned the Phantoms yoke a fraction.  
It was still dark out, and but with the help of Sabine's scanners, they were managing to follow a trail of disturbed grass they'd come across.

The Lothal sun was still an hour or so from rising so the sky was still a tender grey.

Zeb hummed unhappily at the back of the shuttle. "And what are we supposed to do when we find him?"

Sabine shot a frown over her shoulder. "Maybe you could apologies?"

He narrowed his eyes and huffed through his nose. "I don't think he'd want to see me."

"You just spooked, the kid." Sabine argued, turning fully to face the Lasat with her hand on her hip. "I mean, it's Ezra, you know how he is. He's got more defences then a cruiser and you just caught him off guard. Neither of you excel at communication."

The light jab at his coping abilities made Zeb snort, but continued to frown at the floor and Sabine turned back to face the landscape.

Zeb shifted in seat, "I still say we need a plan of action." He muttered.

"Its Ezra, Zeb. Not a battle course."

"Well maybe you two are better equipped at plotting that minefield then I am."

Kanan and Sabine exchanged a single side long glance. Perhaps they _were_ both a little more apt at predicting Ezra's mindset. They were certainly better at defusing him then Zeb when it looked like he was struggling with something.  
He was just a teenage boy after all, and a stubborn one at that. He may have had no real problems adapting to living and working with the Ghost crew after all his time alone, but it was often clear he still had trouble changing his mindset when it came to his knee-jerk reactions.

He was used to dealing with things on his own, solving problems on his own. It took a lot of reminding to have him include them in his calculations. He wasn't a one man operation any more, he was a part of the crew.

After several months in the air, the lessons had begun to sink in. He no longer retreated into truly troubling habits like hiding food or carrying all possessions at once in his backpack; yet it still almost never left his side. He was still somewhat prepared to dash, as he'd demonstrated only a few hours ago, but maybe that would just always be his bad habit.

He liked to be prepared to be alone, that was all. It was understandable really, and when Ezra wanted to be alone, he made it obvious. Sometime just giving him physical space was enough, and sometimes he'd need to have a room to his thoughts, Kanan and Sabine were usually prepared to give that to him. They had the gift of usually known exactly where the line he could be pushed too, was.

Kanan could sense it because he was patient and good at reading the boy's emotions, with or without the use of the force bond between Master and Padawan. He knew Ezra in a way no one else could.

Sabine's instincts were simply down to the ability to read her friend, knowing the right thing to say, and possibly a little woman's intuition. Hera shared the skill too, but she rarely needed to act on it. The twi'leks's presence seemed to calm EZza, if only in the way that he clearly put more effort into behaving for her sake.

Even Chopper, the borderline sadist astromech, seemed to only _really _crank the voltage on his electro prod when Ezra was arguably deserving of it.

Zeb and Ezra, shared a lot of time together, but it was unlike either of them to open up about their pasts unless they were pushed. However that was about the only subject neither one of them ever touched on even when they were going at it like lothcats.

Tonight, was clearly just one of those occasions Ezra had _needed_ space. It was entirely likely even Hera's presence might not have be enough to calm him this time, before his bad habit had kicked in.  
It was, upsetting, that he'd felt the need to put so much distance between himself and the Crew though. It was upsetting in the way that he'd been so rattled by a_ nightmare_. What had their youngest crew member seen?

Whatever he'd been dreaming about, had frightened him, or at least startled him very badly.  
Zeb had done the right thing to wake him, by the sounds of it. They just needed to let Ezra run off some steam before giving him too much of a dressing down for his brash actions.

What if they'd been anywhere but the middle of nowhere on Lothal? He couldn't go running away from all his problems. He needed to tell them when something was wrong, not hide.

The discussion was already scripted and filed away the the Jedi's mind. But it shared the space with another worry, that Ezra might not have had a nightmare- and instead had another vision.

He truly hoped not.

Both concerns took a back seat for now, because at the forefront of Kanan's mind, he was focusing on piloting the Phantom according to Sabine's instruction, but he was also trying to concentrate on the force.

Drawing in a thread, wrapping the slack on a spindle in his mind and absorbing the trail. He trusted Sabine's tracking skills, but he also needed assurance while he searched. As long as Kanan concentrated on the threadbare hint of Ezra's force signature, the kid hadn't truly managed to run away, and therefore; Kanan's heart rate didn't need to spike.

He took a deep slow breath and scanned the dark sea of grassland as they zipped underneath.

"Kanan- Look." Sabine said, pointing to the horizon. He pushed on the thruster and drew the Phantom in closer.

There was a deep long groove in the hillside. A fair distance away, in a a pile of upturned earth was Ezra's speeder, belly up and clearly in a bad way. In the low dim light of the morning the exposed earth was as dark as soot.

Kanan felt his chest tighten and the Phantom shot downwards, making an ungraceful drop out of the sky. A downed speeder was not a pretty sight.

"Kanan!" Zeb growled, holding onto the underside of his seat. Sabine threw her arm around the pilots headrest to keep on her feet. Kanan pulled the helm back, hard. The shuttled levelled out and came to a jerky stop on the grass.

The Jedi pulled the hatch release and slipped out the gap between the frame and the ramp as it lowered.

He made a beeline for the speeder, Zeb and Sabine only a few feet behind. Legs pumping through the grass.

Kanan rounded the belly of the upturned speeder and skid to a stop.

There was no body. No Padawan crushed under the weight of the bike.

"Oh Force." Kanan said, exhaling all at once and laying a hand on the body of the bike to steady his light head.

"Looks like he cut it hard- but," Sabine said, scanning the ground and spinning a she searched.  
Her gaze lifted and and pointed out a flattened area a good seven feet from the crash. "He rolled out here." She lifted her scanner and waded through the broken grass. She stopped and and reached down, disappearing from sight for a moment. She stood up straight, holding up Ezra's helmet up. The visor was scuffed and there a hard scratch in the paintwork, and she brushed the thumb over the marks  
"Ugh- and I did such a nice job too."

"So he rolled out," Zeb said, "But where'd go after that?"

She looked up, and around the grass- and almost all together, the three turned to the mountain base, their eyes moving up the rock into the hazy morning light.

"Karablast." Zeb muttered.

* * *

**R&amp;R** for more Zeb.


	9. Brothers in Bunks III

I'm so sorry guys. I've let myself be distracted with Tumblr and life recently and, truly this one started running away in another direction at one point. I tried to work it in, but eventually I just cut it out as a one shot. That fic is called 'The Fall of Lasan' and you can find it on here. I wasn't entirely happy with this but i thought any ending is better then no ending. Tell me what you think.

**Brothers In Bunks III**

* * *

The climb had been exhausting, both physically and emotionally.

He'd been so angry in the beginning. Leaping from hand hold to hand hold as fast as he could spot them.  
But the fury only gave him enough strength to get about half way before he had to stop to catch his breath. Almost as soon he he stopped; he seized up- suddenly very aware of how much his arms ached. His fingertips were numb from the morning chill and his mouth was bone dry.

Then he'd made it worse but looking up, and then down. It wasn't the height that shook him- it the realisation that he'd literally climbed himself into a dead end. He couldn't see any obvious hand hold above him, and the path of slightly raised ridges in the rock formation were invisible from this angle.

"Huttslime." Ezra breathed, leaning his cheek against the cold rock, taking a deep breath and trying to swallow down the sudden wave of vertigo. It past quickly, and Ezra shook himself awake.

"Come on Bridger," He growled, feeling the seed of anger in his belly sprout again. He couldn't do anything right, could he? "Get a hold of yourself."

Ezra pulled in a deep breath and looked up, going down was out of the question, at least from this angle. The ridges in the rock had been flattened by the hard winds and sleet rain, helping to form the pointed cone shape the Lothal formations took.  
Ezra turned his face to the other side and studied the crags on his left. There was a thin ridge that lifted and looked like it grew thicker as it curved upwards and away from him. It was too far to reach out and grab; he'd have to make a jump.

Ezra wiggled his toes, tensed his legs. He pressed himself flat and then sprang for the hand hold.

His left hand scraped the rock but couldn't find purchase. He felt gravity immediately take hold of him, and Ezra was momentarily filled with the realisation that he was falling, probably to his death-

No. His right hand scraped at the ridge as he slipped away, and he dug his aching fingers into the inch gap.  
Ezra scrambled to find a hold for his feet and managed to move few feet along the ridge line before he found a thin ledge to rest his feet on.

Ezra collapsed against the cool stone, breathing hard, but- smiling.

Ezra risked a glance down between his feet and was relived to see a steady slope forming in the rocks incline from this angle, he could make out a handful of ridges that would serve as a ladder, leading him back to the ground.

His sweat cooled against his skin in the fresh breeze, and his whole body ached, but he looked up, and from this angle he could see several more handholds and the curve of the stone began to fall away. He wasn't so far from the top.

Ezra let out a hard breath through his nose. _Well, I've come this far_, he thought.

Ezra made it to the crown of the rock in only half the time it took to climb the foot.

As soon as the incline began to pinch and ease out, Ezra practically began to crawl up the stone, finally reaching the rounded plateau and throwing himself onto the flattened surface.

He rolled onto his back and gasped, forcing the stitch in both his sides to flare and burn with each breath. His throat was dry and his skin stung in the cold high air.

But as he lay sucking in the cold air, and his heart rate slowly dropping, Ezra felt the last dregs of his anger slipping away.

He wasn't angry now, he was too tired for that.  
He was ashamed.

He was ashamed for what he'd said to Zeb- who for _once_, had been trying to be gentle with him.

A part of Ezra had know it at the time, but he'd panicked. The soft treatment had made him feel guilty, and his first reaction had been to lash out, and push the Lasat away- both figuratively and literally. He didn't want to be treated nicely, it just filled him with shame and anger. He'd acted out like a stupid kid- just like the crew always called him.

Ezra pulled himself up, groaning as his abs protested and pulled himself into a sitting position, leaning his elbows on his knees.

The sun was just beginning to lighten the sky with pink and orange waves.

He hadn't had a nightmare, he'd dreamed of memories.  
A twisted muffled mix of bad memories, things he stored at the very back of his mind. But it hadn't just been some silly child's bad dream, a nightmare.

Ezra knew Zeb hadn't been trying to demean his feelings, to lessen the palpable panic he'd felt with a simple little brush off. 'It was just a _nightmare_, kid. No need to get so worked up'

But he'd panicked. It'd been such a long time since he thought about any of the hardships he'd faced on the streets or the night that had set him on that dreary course.

He missed his parents.

Which made him feel ridiculous and weak. He'd been without them longer then he'd known them now. He'd been through so much, he'd learnt how to be strong.

He had trouble recalling the songs and stories his mother would tell him before bed. He could remember the sound of her voice, but not the shape of her words. His father was a smiling face, pushing a mess of wires and powercells across the table. Teaching Ezra the basics of circuity- but Ezra couldn't remember his father's other lessons.

His mother was crying, and his father was sealing him inside the hidden space under their house. There was shouting and the muffled sounds of blaster fire-

Ezra pulled his knees into his chest and rested his chin against them as he stared out across the plains.

Before Sabine had given him the burnt out holodisk, he'd been unable to remember what colour his mothers eyes were. What shape was his fathers nose exactly. Their faces, their lessons- it had all started to fade into the background of the streets- somewhere where the luxury of questioning your government took a back seat to starvation.

It was the past, long forgotten and pushed to the edge of forgetting. He should have never let his dreams rattle him so.

Wasn't Kanan always telling him to be vigilant over his emotions? To control his feelings and not let them control him? Well, he'd certainly failed _spectacularly_ at that tonight.

He'd let his anxiety and his helplessness overwhelm him, which had made him feel guilty and frustrated with himself; and he'd taken it all out on Zeb and runaway like a petulant child.

He'd just wanted space...  
And now he had all of Lothal to himself again.

* * *

Kanan put a hand up and shielded his eyes from the early morning light, squinting up the mountain.

Ezra's emotional turmoil was a faint blip on his radar now, high up and withdrawn. It was still very much there, but fainter then before. It felt- not calmer, no. Not placated. Just, tired? Worn out?

"Well. He's up there." he said finally, dropping his hand and heaving a deep breath. Trust Ezra to find the biggest rock on all of Lothal to hide on top of.

"How are we gonna do this?" Sabine asked, even her scanners couldn't get her a visual. There was too little light and the rock tapered off from view.

"_We _wont. I'll go." Kanan said firmly, but the tone of his voice suggested he was not looking forward too it. Kanan's climbing skills were average for a Jedi at best, and next to Ezra's they were nil. While Kanan was equally nimble, his lankey frame was hardely built for it.

But this was his Padawan after all, and it was Kanan's duty to guide him though whatever deep seeded visions had frightened him off.

As the Jedi began to move towards the rock, Zeb looked up.

There was something about this scene. Not the shape of the rock. Not the grasslands. That was all wrong. But the kid hiding himself all the way at the top of the highest tree, full of aniexity, and anger. Sadness and self doubt-

"Kanan." he heard himself say. "I'll go."

Kanan turned and looked surprised, studying the Lasat's face with a hard line to his jaw. "Is that, the best idea?" he asked slowly.

Zeb wanted Kanan to protest and insist on going himself, but instead Zeb felt himself shurg. "I frightened the kid off- I should bring him home right?"

Kanan and Sabine exchanged a look, but when they offered no resistance he moved forward, muttering into chest. This was the worst idea he'd ever had.

"If you fall off," Sabine called out brightly, "I promise I will paint your likeness with dignity."

Zeb let out a string of unintelligible grumbles, purposely letting only a select few words out clearly enough that the girl would hear.

He found his way to the base of the mountain, and began to climb.

* * *

The rock was not easiest to climb. It was steep and offered very little in the way of handholds Zeb could actually use with his dinner plate hands- he had to rely on his ability to climb against traction rather then pulling himself up by hand holds.

This wasn't the type of stone Zeb has grown up climbing. His mountains had been sloping and soft sandstone that left red and orange powders on his palms. Dry, heavy heat that would put a sweat down your back and leave your fur sticking to the skin. Hand holds that appeared as quickly as you could spot them.

This mountain was sheer, cold and rough, and offered very little in the way of finding purchase- this was no Lasan mountain guard post. This was like climbing a sandpaper egg!

"I swear," Zeb muttered darkly, huffing into the stone and grunting as he tried to work his fingers into the shallow grooves. "One of these days-uhg- I really _will_ end that kid."

But first, he had to catch up to him.

It was slow going- but he made progress.

By the time he found the angle of the rock began to tilt away from him, Zeb had made it a good distance up the mountain in only half time he'd expected. The sun was only just starting to crest and the grass plains were turning from grey to gold.

He could still see the Phantom, settled in the long grasses below- but it was still hazy to spy under the clinging morning mist.

Zeb did his best not to look directly down, and reached up to pull himself a little higher. His arms and shoulders ached for rest, but he couldn't stop yet. He was well and truly out of breath, but the cold burn in his lungs helped push him through the last few feet.

The rock began to slope inward and flatten out, and Zeb was able to kick up the rest of the distance, finally coming to a stop when he cold rest on his knees and hands without gravity trying to pull him backwards. The wind was stronger now he was exposed to the crown of the mountain, but not boisterous enough to threaten his grip on the rock.

Ten feet away, as Kanan had predicted, Ezra was sitting. Just over the point of the rock, his back to Zeb and his knees drawn up to his chest.

Zeb hadn't been quiet about his arrival, the kid surley heard him.  
The kid said nothing, didn't move, but Zeb felt the air grow tight.

Zeb took four deep breaths, worked the feeling back into his fingers and then stood up crafully.  
He approached, slowly and casually collapsed onto his rump exactly two feet away from the kid.  
The view was breathtaking- and not just the cost of the climb. The morning mists were still clinging to the lowlands, and from such a height the grasslands were hidden. The sunrise was shooting orange through the blue sky. It was like sitting in the middle of the clouds themselves.

Zeb floundered for something to say, and finally settled on, "Hey, kid."

Ezra shifted his shoulders just a little in a, offhanded greeting, not taking his eyes off the horizon. His hair whipped around his face. "Hey."

"Nice rock you found."

Another shrug."Yeah."

Zeb winced, and a small piece of him enjoyed half a moment of imagining pushing the boy off the side, simply for making him climb this monstrosity in the first place.

"I'm sorry."

Zeb looked up, shocked, because an apology was certainly the last thing he'd expected to be confronted with.

Ezra still refused to turn his head, but Zeb could see his mouth was set in a firm line, his eyes now falling a little off the sunrise and into the misty grasslands below.

"For pushing you." Ezra added. "I'm sorry."

Zeb blinked and let out heavy breath. "Its alright. Like you said- I'm intimidating, right?"

Ezra's mouth twitched- but the smile quickly dropped away.

Zeb felt the silence pressing and grasped for words.

"Look kid- I didn't mean to be so blunt with ya. I just figured you had to wake up and-"

"It wasn't a nightmare." Ezra cut in quickly, only a hint of edge to his voice this time.

Zeb put up a hand. "Sure kid, Whatever you say. Dream, sleep talking- whatever."

"No! You- ugh!" Ezra suddenly shot his hands out in frustration and then withdrew them just as quickly. Zeb waited, unsure how to continue when the boy was so clearly on edge.

"It wasn't a nightmare." Ezra started finally, slower and even this time. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly.  
"It was a memory."

The knot in Zeb's gut throbbed.

Ezra twisted his mouth. "Well, _memories_. At least, _maybe_ it was a nightmare of a memory. I don't know if I really remember it very clearly. All I know is that I haven't thought about my past in a long time and I got- I got scared." he finished lamely.

Zeb felt the silence in the gap, inwardly filling away what Ezra had admitted to process later. The visuals alone of what Ezra half described, made his blood boil- No. He wouldn't think about that right now. He had to concentrate on talking the kid off this rock.

"Well, from what I heard- sounds like that was the right reaction."

"I shouldn't have yelled at you." Ezra answer sullenly, resting his chin on his knees again. "It wasn't you I was angry with. I was angry at _me_."

Zeb regarded the boy. The angry turn if his mouth and the, surprisingly, honest answer. The kid was actually working with him on this. He was actually sharing, his thoughts- and without his usual unpredictable boarded up attitude.  
He was clearly still unhappy, but it was directed at himself now, not at Zeb.

He was acting out, seeking comfort and feeling vulnerable and shamed for needing it.

That was familiar. Zeb had been there before. Maybe all he needed to do was say that...

"Well, I know a little something of what that's like." Zeb said thickly.

To be angry. To be helpless. To be scared.

Zeb knew what that felt like, to be filled with it. It had consumed him for several years after the fall of Lasan. It drove him through the motions of everyday life- of this new and awful life that he led, alone for at almost six long dark years.

Where would he even start to explain? Maybe when he'd been at his lowest.

"You should'a seen me before Kanan and Hera brought me on board."

Ezra blinked.

"Hired me outta a dank pit on Tatooine. For my_ muscle_." He added the last part with a nudge to the boys ribcage, playing on the kid's nickname for him.

Ezra looked sharply up at the Lasat, surprised at first- then his eyes slid away. "I-I've never thought about what you were like before- well, you." Ezra said quietly.

It was true- it was- almost impossible to imagine; Zeb, different, younger; making his home somewhere other then the Ghost. It put an oddly anxious pinch in his gut- how much did Zeb regret the way his life had turned out? How much more difficult did Ezra make it every day?

Zeb grunted, "I try to forget it mostly myself. I wasn't- well, I was drunk outta my mind most of the time. Broke. Lost." He drew in deep gulp of cold dawn air. "Hera insisted I stay, that I did a good job when I was awake to do it. She sober'd me right up, she did- and I didn't make it easy. Kanan put me to work and I didn't ask questions- I just did what they needed doin'. Then they sat me down one night, and told me a little more. And, it was the first time I felt like there was more I could be doing. That there was more that I could be."

Zeb leant back on his arms, studying the horizon with a look as hard as the one Ezra was giving his boots.

"They helped fix me. Gave me something to put back in the hole in me. Work that I believed in. People to protect. Honour."

He hesitated, and then Zeb reached up and took his Bo-Rifle off his back. He lay it across his lap and studied it, ghosting a hand along the barrel and resting it end to end with a heavy sigh.  
Ezra watched his every movement from the corner of his eye and stayed mute.

No number of questions could unplug the lump in his throat he had now, watching Zeb regard the last remaining artifact he had of his whole world.

After a long strained silence, Zeb cleared his throat.

"The kids- on lassan," he began. Ezra's head spun around and for the first time since Zeb had sat down he looked full on at the Lasat.

Zeb kept his eyes in the distance, seeing all at once the sunrise horizon of Lothal, and a the occur mountainsides and townships of Lassan- vibrant with life and love and laughter.  
But now a desert pocked with smoke and sand, dust and death.

"The kids would climb on everything. Tough little things. Rough housing all day and sleeping in a big heap at night. Communities would sort of raise each other- moving about. You can imagine how chaotic that could be." he added with a soft laugh. Ezra didn't return it.

"Well- anyway. Sometimes, you remind me of the kids on- that _were_ on Lassan." he corrected. "Even climbing this monster," he said loudly, patting the rock under him. "That's what the kids would do when they were unhappy, find themselves somewhere to be alone." _That's what I did,_ he added internally.

Ezra didn't know how to respond, his chest was full to burst with words and feeling and Nothing felt like the right thing to say or feel.

He just sat there blinking.

Zeb was starting to feel the conversational panic rise up again in the silence. "Uhh so, I wanted to say, that, I know we gotta share a lotta time together."

Ezra turned his face away, resting his chin on his knees again and averting his eyes.

"And I know we don't always see eye to eye." the boy grunted. "Okay- we _never _see eye to eye, but that doesn't mean I don't have your back, like I know you got mine, right?"

Ezra was starting down the rocky cliff, his face set in down turned lines, but after a moment, he nodded, once, firmly.

"I like- having someone else breathing in my space again. Reminds me of home sometimes. And if you gotta wake me up with your own ghosts- that's fine too. I'm tough- I can take it."

Ezra let out a long exhale through his nose. Zeb could practically see the cog's in the kids head chewing up his words. His blue eyes narrowed and the Lasat could see indecision in them. He wanted to speak, he wanted to say something-

"Did-" Ezra licked his dry lips, taking a breath to steel his nerve. "Did you have a family?"

Zeb didn't answer for a long time, eyes starting off into a past Ezra could only imagine.  
It hadn't been a question Zeb expected, but he wasn't surprised. His sadness wasn't a pain that came in waves, it was present every day. But he'd long ago forced it out of his heart, and into his bones. There, it gave him strength. It gave him fuel to fight every day. It was not easy, by any stretch, but he could manage it. And maybe this kid, even one as tough and resilient as Ezra, needed a little bracing in his bones too.

"Yeah." Zeb said finally. His voice a steady, but quiet line. "I had a family."

The sun was beginning to warm the air, their skin. It was a dull contract to the cold damp of the rock and their conversation.

Ezra finally broke the silence. "Do.. do you worry, you'll forget them?"

Zeb frowned, and let the question resonate with him and was mindful not to focus only on his answer, but why Ezra might have asked it.  
Is that what was bothering the kid? Was he worried he was forgetting the good in his past along with the bad?

"No." he said finally. The kids shoulder slumped just a little. "They aren't really gone as long as I honour them."  
Ezra's chin lifted just a little.  
"As long as I keep fighting. As long as I'm a thorn in the Empire's side- they aren't ever forgotten."

Ezra didn't answer, but maybe, if Zeb was careful to ignore it and pretend he hadn't noticed, he might have shifted a little closer to the Lasat. Almost leaning against him.

Zeb felt his mouth twitch, and in a moment of bravery, he threw his arm around the boys shoulders and pulled him against his side. Firmly clapping his hand on the boys arm and giving him a very gentle shake- to make the embrace a little more manly, and, surprisingly Ezra didn't argue.

"Besides, I got one now too, so it ain't all bad."

The boy looked up, eyes wide and then quickly ducked his head, but Zeb could see the smile.

They sat, close and quite for another half minute- the exact amount of time it would take before the hug could no longer be counted as 'manly'. They parted wordlessly and looked straight ahead, smiling.

"So," The Lasat began, his voice jovial. "You done hiding up here?"

"I wasn't hiding!" Ezra argued, but there was no anger in his words. "I was just trying to get some fresh air- have I told you that you smell, recently?"

Zeb snorted. "Not today. Lets shelve it and say we go have some breakfast? I'm suddenly starvin'- and sounds like you are too."

Ezra put a hand over his stomach, which had immediately let out a loud grumble at the mention of food, the boy smiled sheepishly. "yeah, alright." Ezra looked around himself.

The sun had risen fully now, and the grasslands that spread out before them were lit up like a sea of gold.

"Uh, Zeb. How're we gonna get down?"

Zeb blinked.

Climbing down was going to be harder then climbing up.

* * *

Kanan had known everything was fine as soon as the voices began to echo down the rock.

"Put your foot there."

"Where?"

"Right there- I'm pointing right at it! Its just under your left foot- No, down- Ugh. You aren't listening!"

"Well it's hard ta' listen when I'm hanging from my nail beds and your screechin at me!"

"I'm not screeching! I'm trying to keep from from becoming a Lasat pancake!"

Sabine pulled down her scanner, leaning against the Phantom's helm alongside the Jedi.

"Its gonna take them at least an hour to climb down at this rate." she sighed, propping the scanner back up and folding her arms. "Should we go an pick them up in the Phantom?"

Kanan inclined his head. "and miss the show?" he smiled wryly. "Nah- let them tire themselves out. That way we wont have to listen too them on the way back."

Sabine's helmet cocked to the side, then she laced her hands together and bowed at the waist. "You are a wise one, Jedi master."

"Yes, " Kanan agreed, locking his jaw against the yawn building. "May the force give me patience to deal with two fools as thick as each other."

A frustrated echo drew their attention back up into the mountain.

"I give up- I'm going down without you! You'll probably be old and smell way worse then usual if you ever get down."

"Kid- if you leave me up here- I'll meet you at the bottom when I use you to break my fall."

Forty minutes later, they reached the ground.

Ezra, surprisingly, hadn't left the Lasat to it- he'd coached him from below almost all the way to the ground. Zeb couldn't see the footholds below him over his own massive feet, so Ezra guided him between the ridges, doing laps around the slow going, scouting out a path the bigger man could take.

When Zeb risked a glance back and saw the grass only fifteen feet down, he sighed in relief and pushed back from the rock.

He fell, just enough time to brace his joints for the impact, before his feet slammed into the ground.  
He straightened, and lifted a hand up to shield his eyes from the sun- and moved just in time to avoid Ezra landing on his toes.

"Oie- watch it you!"

"But I was going to use you to break my fall." Ezra replied, straight up and shrugging his shoulders. His mouth was twisted in an attempt not to laugh.

Zeb huffed, pleased to see the devil-may-care attitude was back and gritty as ever.

"Come on, then, _Kit_."  
He began to walk. They'd come down the east side of the mountain and the Phantom would be waiting on the mountains shadow on west.

"Did you just call me, _Kit_?" Era demanded, jogging behind him.

"No." Zeb answered shortly, careful not to turn and look the boy in the eye. He had a feeling Ezra was smiling at him, and irritably swiped out at his arm.

"Ow-What was that for?" Ezra snapped, rubbing his arm where the knuckles had grazed him.

"For getting me out of my bed." Zeb said, careful not to let anything beyond mockery enter his voice.

Ezra pouted and then sped up a little to draw even with the Lasat's stride. "It was just pay back for all the times I've woken up to your awful snoring."

"I don't snore," Zeb argued. Ezra just raised a hard eyebrow. "That much." Zeb added quickly, with a shrug.

A small fist was dug into his ribs and he feigned recoil and let the kid pull ahead.

Zeb followed behind Ezra around the mountain base, but as he drew closer to the _Phantom_ and the two figures waiting, the kid's steps got smaller and his eyes drew down to the ground. Zeb managed to draw even with him, and then the kid began to fall behind.

Zeb glanced back and saw the kids hesitation building.  
"Ugh. Come on you." he growled, wrapping a meaty hand around the kids upper arm and marching him purposefully along. He was too hungry and too tired for this.

Ezra fought the grip but he was hopelessly outmatched by the single muscular hold. His struggling grew less and less the closer they drew to the small ship.

Zeb dragged him forwards and dropped the boy heavy on the ground.  
"Here, I found this thing playing king-of-the-mountain. Shall we keep it?" he asked in a gruff voice.  
Sabine leant down, hands on her knees and pushed her face into Ezra's space, like she was trying to sniff him out. Even through her helmet Ezra could feel her eyes pinning him down and he gave her a hard glare into the visor where he knew her eyes would be.

She straightened, put a hand on her chin and pushed her weight to one side, jutting out her hip.

"Hmm, I dunno. It looks kinda weedy. Is it house trained?"

Ezra scoffed partly amused, and partly offended and pushed himself to his feet. Sabine half turned and looked to Kanan, who stood leaning against the prowl of the Phantom. "What do you think, Kanan? Shall we keep him?"

Ezra's eyes found the floor and studied it hard, he could feel his cheeks burning and his feet itched to turn and run.

Instead, he steeled his jaw and looked up, meeting Kanan's gaze head on.

Master studied Padawan, inside and out. After a long tense moment, Kanan pushed himself off the ship and stood straight.

"Are you alright?" he asked evenly.  
Ezra considered this and nodded, once.  
Kanan gave him another hard moment of scrutiny.

"Are you ready to come home then?"  
Ezra once again thought before he answered. He thought about the maelstrom of anger and helplessness he'd felt when he'd arrived at this place.  
He didn't feel that now, he wasn't sure when it had stopped. Maybe it hadn't, maybe it was hiding inside him, laying in wait for him to let his guard down.

What he did know was that he was pretty tired, now that the idea of the Ghost entered his mind. Somewhere safe and warm. _Home_, as Kanan put it... what a weirdly normal concept.

Maybe he didn't need to

He nodded, a little more eagerly now.

That was all Kanan seemed to need, "Okay then." and he turned. Sabine looked back to Ezra, waiting for him to fall into line behind the Jedi first. He did, and she followed, Zeb bringing up the rear.

Ezra wasn't fooled, he knew there would be a serious discussion about his actions, but for now, if Kanan was willing to give him a break first, he would happily take it. And when Kanan was ready to rip into him, he would face it. He was done running away now.

Zeb might not have meant to, but he'd shown Ezra there was no running from the past. You just had to push through it, and learn.

He might not have happy memories. But he could still be a thorn in the Empire's side. He might not remember his parents as much as he wished, but he could honour them.

The ride home was quiet, and that could mostly be attributed to Ezra and Zeb falling asleep within minutes after take off.

First was Ezra, leaning his head back against the wall and closing his eyes for just a moment. Next to him, Zeb had folded his arms and as the Lasat's own eyes drifted shut, Ezra's crown rested against the meaty arm and his body went a little slack and Zeb began to snore.

Sabine beamed and sat back to enjoy the quiet. Kanan just shook his head, listening to the sounds of sleep.

* * *

**R&amp;R** For good karma and love for Zeb


	10. Amnesia

Hi everyone. I feel like I dropped the ball on the end of Brothers in Bunks. So you get this in apology. It's a one shot. There is not further ending to this, right now anyway. Maybe one day. I hope you enjoy the read. This is_ typical_ radicalcat drama trash. Thankyou Unfathomablefandoms for being my beta bff.  
Enjoy.

* * *

**Amnesia**

* * *

Ezra came to, slowly. He peeled his eyes open, blinking at the bright light. Muffled sounds and sensations gently bringing him out of the comfort of unconsciousness.

The first thing he noticed was pain. It felt like his head was trapped in a vice. Bright spots of color danced in his blurry vision and stung his eyes. There was a deep throbbing pressure that began at his head and spread all through his right side. The floor gently rolled in one direction and his inner ear went spinning.  
He shifted gently with a groan and lifted his numb, throbbing hand to cover his eyes. Ezra couldn't tell which way was up. His whole body was prickling with little pins and needles and he thought he might be about to throw up.

"Hey, you with us, Kid?"

The voice startled him. It wasn't one he knew, and waking up anywhere in the presence of people he didn't know was never good. Maybe the Empire-wait, why was he worried about the Empire?

Ezra sat bolt right up, trying to force his eyes open through the bright painful light. The room gave one hard tug in the wrong direction and began to spin a little harder. A firm hand steadied his shoulder and guided him back to lean his aching head against a wall.

"Whoa, steady on. You took a whopping crack to the noggin."

His ears were ringing, or was someone riding a speeder nearby? Had he been hit in the street? It didn't feel like the dusty old pavement street beneath him, more like threadbare blankets laid over a cold hard floor. And there was a weird musty fragrance in the air that Ezra thought he knew but couldn't quite name.

"What smells?" Ezra slurred, his voice sounded off in his ears.

Someone snorted hard, in amusement, Ezra thought.

"I see you didn't get any sense knocked innta ya then."

Ezra tried to force his eyes open again, trying to focus on something that would sit still, to take the endless tilt off his world. His senses felt like they were wrapped in cotton. Had he been drinking? Is that why he felt this kiffin awful? Every piece of him protested being here right now.

"Heh- nothing your thick skull couldn't handle right?"

Ezra blinked, trying to frown, because some part of him recognized he was being insulted- and by someone he didn't even know! He attempted to scowl, but it only made the ache in his head grow. He had to lay back again with an unsettled moan. He tried to lift a hand up to press against the throb in his skull- but there was a sound of boots and another hand knocked his arm away.

"Don't touch it." Commanded a new voice, and Ezra was surprised that he obeyed. "Zeb, leave him alone. He's in enough of a state without you trying to rile him up."

Ezra was sure he hadn't met this voice before, it definitely belonged to a female and she was, surprisingly, defending him.

The gravel voice- What had she called him? Zeb?- grumbled and Ezra heard him move a few feet away, muttering. "Just glad to see he's still moving."

"No kidding." the girl replied firmly, relived.

Ezra was fairly certain it was girl, and not woman. But each time he tried to open his eyes all he could see was a mixture of bright cutting light and purple. The floor took a hard dip down and his stomach kept moving. He groaned and felt two hands brace his shoulders as he slipped down the wall.

There was a loud crackle of static and Ezra winced. The ringing in his ears distorted for a moment, growing weaker.  
_ "Hows the kid?"_

The man called Zeb cleared his throat and answered, "Like new, Kanan. He's making smart jokes about how I smell already."

Who was Kanan? Ezra didn't know anyone by that name and didn't recognize the voice through the comms open channel buzz.

The voice let out a shot sigh, and it sounded relieved._ "Well, then at least we know his nose is still working."_

"Hey!"

_"Can you go help Chopper repair the coordinate system? We've lost the Tie's but I'll be happier when they're half a galaxy away."_

"On my way, Boss" answered the gravel voice and switched off his communicator. Ezra heard the man move away, and then added. "I'll be right back. You just keep him in one spot."

"You know that's at least a two man job." The girl replied, and Ezra caught a quirky lilt in her voice- she was making a joke!

Ezra shifted, taking in deep slow breaths and trying to think around the cotton on his brain. He began to take stock of the situation, and his thinking began to straighten out.

He was with people he didn't know, humanoid by the sound of it, and he wasn't exactly in the best shape.  
They sounded like they wanted to make sure he stayed put, which was usually and unappealing quality in Ezra's books. But for now, the very idea of moving put his inner ear back on a slant and he groaned into his chest again. This couldn't be good. So far these people weren't hurting him, they were being very casual about it; that was- well odd, but maybe not so bad. Then again, what did any of it matter- because he was in no state to do anything about it right now.

_What_ had happened?

"Here," said the girls voice, and Ezra felt a cold cup slid into his hands.

Even through the cloud of confusion he was blearily trying to navigate, he let caution take the reins. "What's this?" He demanded, rolling his tongue around his mouth. It felt dry and he thought he tasted copper.

"It's poison. What do you think it is?" the girl shot back, and before Ezra could argue, his hand was pushed up and the cup came to his lips.

He tasted water and immediately began to drink. The copper was washed down his throat and he felt the acid drop back down into his stomach. A glorious cold chill spread through his chest.

The cup was pulled away as soon as he'd emptied it, and then a hand took a firm pinch of his chin. His face was tilted back and he let out a groan as the ceiling lights cut through his eyelids.

"It doesn't look like you'll need stitches at least." The girl said, appraisingly.

"That's good." He replied dully. It was always nice not to need stitches. But that didn't help with the pain or the confusion.

The fingers dropped gently away and his chin fell back against his chest. Another cup was pushed into his hands and this time he drank without an argument, taking deep gulp of air between swallows.

"We need to get a bactapatch on that and get you an internal scan. You fell at least six levels."

Ezra put a hand up to shield his eyes and cracked an eyelid, blinking away the haze and squinting hard through the light, "I fell?" He asked numbly. That would account for the pulsating ache that was his right side.

"Yes, but don't worry, your head doesn't look too bad." He felt a finger very carefully swipe a piece of hair back from his face, and flinched back. The girl let out a sigh and pressed on. "Can you feel your hands?"

Ezra carefully turned his head in the direction of the voice. More purple and light, but if he squinted he could start to make out the shape of a girl.

A pretty girl, he realised quickly as his vision cleared. She was Mandalorian, with a sharp pointed jaw, high cheekbones and two big amber eyes. Her hair was cropped close around her ears and it looked like to be painted in a deep raven blue with a shock of orange through her bangs. It was odd colour mix was jarring, but not unappealing. He was immediately taken with the boldness of her attitude.

Ezra felt his mouth fall open and quickly tried to pull it shut. She was frowning at him and the last of Ezra's mind finally pulled to the surface. He just managed to catch her saying something, her voice hazy and muffled. His ears popped, and he was suddenly awake.

"What?" He asked, a little louder than he'd meant to, perhaps a little startled as full awareness hit him. The ache in his brain gave a mighty swell and he blinked hard to rid the shadows off his vision.

The girl pulled her brows together, putting a little wrinkle above her nose. Ezra felt suddenly very on the spot. "Uh- sorry? I didn't quite, catch that."

"I asked if you can feel your hands again." the girl repeated, a little slower this time. Her eyes studied his face and then flicked down his body. Ezra's gaze followed hers and he was surprised to see he had a new pair of boots on. He was at least still wearing his flight suit, which at the moment was spotted with grease marks and a smattering of little singe spots. He fingered one on his chest and the material felt hard and melted. Stun blasts, he realized. No wonder his toes and fingertips were only just starting to come back to him. Is that why his mind was so ...fuzzy around the edges. Who'd been shooting at him?

"Do your legs hurt?" the girl pressed. "We shouldn't move you if they do."

"Oh, uh, and no more than the rest of me, I guess." He said, turning his attention back to his new nurse. She was dressed pretty strangely for a nurse, in bright purple Mando armor with streaks of colour and pattern. There was a round orange symbol over the left side of her breastplate which looked somewhat like a bird in flight, but abstract- like a it was an insignia or a logo.  
It... tugged at something inside his mind. But as he narrowed his eyes in concentration- the pain flared again and he had to strain to keep his thoughts straight.

"Hey," the girl snapped her fingers under his nose and he jerked back in surprise. "My eyes are up here." she said, pointing to her face. Her tone was admonishing, but her lips were quirked in a gentle smile.

She looked almost, relieved, Ezra thought._ Was she worried about me?_ He thought bewildered._ She doesn't even know me, but I wouldn't mind getting to know her._

He watched her pat down his left arm, searching for more injuries.  
He wondered what her name was.

Ezra took in a sharp breath, ignoring the way his ribs flared under his muscles and put out his his hand. He matched this with his most charming, confident smile and said, "My name's Ezra. Ezra Bridger."

The hands on his arm instantly froze and her eyes snapped up to his.

"What did you say?" she questioned, all traces of relief gone from her face.  
Ezra dropped his own smile and his hand, at the reaction, and he frowned at her.

"My name, is Ezra Bridger." He said slowly.

Her eyes grew wider and he didn't like the way the colour drained out of her cheeks. Was there something wrong with his name?

"What's wrong?" He asked, cautiously.

The hands on his arm tightened and it put him on edge, he tried to pull away but she held on firmly.

"Ezra," she said, commandingly, not taking her eyes off him. "What's_ my_ name?"

He hadn't expected the question and he was at a loss what to tell her. His head was still more mush then function at the moment but he knew for a fact she hadn't already told him her name and he'd told her his, twice. Why was he expected to know hers?

He opened his mouth to say so, when a purple furred giant walked into the room, from a doorway on a level above her head.

Ezra gaped, and pulled back in surprise.

"Kanan's on his way." said the giant, pulling the girls attention away from Ezra for a moment.

The boy took the opportunity to rip his arm out of her hold and scooted back a little further away from the giant. This guy was gravel voice- Zeb? He looked like a bulky mercenary on a bad hair day.

What had Ezra gotten himself into?

"What's going on here?" Ezra demanded. He scrambled up the wall behind him, fighting the wave of nausea.

The girl reached out a hand like she didn't want him to do that, but immediately thought better of touching him. When the vertigo passed, and he forced his eyes back open. Starring both of the strangers down. He did not know this girl. He didn't remember this other guy, and he certainly didn't know any Kanans.

"Eh, what's he on about?" Zeb asked, confused, and a little worried. He looked to the girl for an answer, but she just shook her head gently. Her eyes were studying Ezra's face, and suddenly she looked so... Sad?

What was with this girl and her emotions? What was her problem? For the first time Ezra managed to look around himself and felt shock slowly dawning as he realized he was in the cargo hold of a ship. The walls and floors were humming underneath him- He was on a_ moving_ ship!  
_ Was he being kidnapped?_

"Where am I?" He shouted, struggling to find his breath again. His heart hammered in his chest and suddenly all worry for his aches was gone and replaced with panic. "Who_ are_ you?"

Neither the mando girl or the hairy giant moved to answer him, both faces a mixture of shock and anxiety.

The purple giants face twisted in confusion and then pain, and then more confusion. His round eyes snapped onto the girl. "What happened?"

"I don't know!" She cried, suddenly moving into action. The shout put a sharp pain through his brain and he groaned, wincing. She flashed her eyes back to the man's before returning them to Ezra's. "He doesn't know who I am!" her voice was softer now, but strained and Ezra thought he saw her shoulders pinch back.

Of course he didn't know her- she hadn't told him her name. Was this some kind of weird interrogation? He had to talk his way out of this- fast. Ezra tried to slow down his breathing but he couldn't get enough air, the room was starting to spin again.

"Just- just let me go." Ezra said, spitting out the words while he still could. "I don't know nothing. I don't want any trouble!" the two looked at one another and then back to him, agape.

"Kanan!" the furred man suddenly shouted over his shoulder. "Kanan, you better get down here."

Ezra felt fear strike, who_ was_ this Kanan? Why were they calling him? Was he going to come deal with Ezra? What had Ezra gotten himself mixed into? He backed away, slowly moving into the corner of the room as far away as he could get from the two unfamiliar people.

The girl lifted her wrist to her mouth. "_Hera, Kanan, you gotta get down here, asap! There's something wrong!"_

Hera? There were more of them? Oh_ kiff_. This was not good. Had he been caught in the middle of a heist? Is that why he was here? Had he fallen while he was robbing these people?

"Look, whatever I stole, I'll give it back." Ezra started, laying his hands out flat in apology. He moved them both to his pockets, looking for whatever might belong to these strange people. "I'll give it back, and then you set the burner down and let me off, yeah? You caught me fair and square, but this doesn't have to get ugly, right? I'm sorry; I was just trying to get a feed. Kids gotta eat, you know..." his words trailed off as his hands found his belt and closed on something unfamiliar.

He unclipped it and lifted it up. It was an odd shaped handle with two exit barrels. He could feel a trigger under one finger, and it fit quite comfortably in his hand. "A blaster?" He asked out loud confused. He looked up to the girl and held the strange weapon out. "Is this it? Is this what you want back?"

She gaped, wordless and slowly shook her head. "I, Ezra-"

All at once it occurred to him that while this odd pair looked Nothing like Imperials, what evidence did he have that they were not? What if they were bounty hunters? His eyes darted over them and took in a pair of squared pistols strapped to her sides and a long arm rifle carried across the giant's back. Oh blast it.

Her eyes followed his to her guns and she seemed to immediately know where his mind was going. Her fingers twitched and Ezra tightened his hold on the blaster. The air in the cabin immediately changed. The girl's body went rigid and the giant straightened up. All of his joints twitched.

Her shoulder twitched and he reached out a hand, "Ezra-"

But Ezra had already reacted, levelled the weird blaster at the girls chest.  
He wasn't going to shoot her, so far she'd been nothing but kind to him and it simply wasn't something Ezra was prepared to do.

But she had a pair of blasters too and he wasn't going to let her demonstrate her's first, that's all.

Both of the strangers shot their hands in front of them, palms out and eyes wide.

"Kid." the giant said, slowly. "Just calm down for a minute." his voice now a low controlled growl.

"I just want to leave." Ezra shot back. "Let me out and we won't have a problem."

That was when two more sets of feet entered and two people appeared at the railing followed by an squat orange and white astromech flailing its claw grips and firing off a string of binary. Ezra panicked at their sudden appearance and quickly lifted the blaster aim up to focus on the newcomers.

The first was a pretty twi'lek woman wearing a flight suit. Her lekku swung behind her as she came to an abrupt stop, and she gasped when she caught sight of Ezra, her hand flying up to her mouth. He immediately felt ashamed- but he couldn't guess why.

The other was a man. A bounty hunter for sure, with one armored shoulder painted green to match his shirt and his own long pistol at his belt. His hair was slicked back into a short ponytail, and he had a carefully groomed goatee. He looked... no, he was definitely unfamiliar. His teal eyes pinned down on Ezra, and Ezra had to truly focus on his hold of the blaster to ignore how lightheaded he felt. But it past- and the pain came back. Ezra could hear that high pitched chime in his ears again, and his spine rattled.

There was a long beat of tense silence, broken only by Ezra's hard breathing.

"What's going on, Ezra?" the man asked calmly.

"You can tell me how you all know my name for a start!" He shouted back reflexively, each word ringing in his ears. He'd never seen this man in his life. "_Where_ am I? Are you bounty hunters? Were you sent to kill me? Why am I here? And- Uhg-_ what_ did you_ do_ to my head?" he took a long gasp of air and winced at the wave of pain went through him again, dimming his vision for a moment.

The man's eyebrows snapped together, in confusion and something like distress, Ezra noted, and then he flicked his eyes to the girl.

Her hands were still in the air, but Ezra got the feeling it was to keep him calm, rather than fear of his blaster.

"He doesn't remember,, Kanan." she said quietly. "I think the fall knocked his senses."

So this man was Kanan? And he was_ senseless_, was he?

Ezra retained the blaster on the girl. "Remember what?!" Ezra shouted in frustration, he jerked the blaster in his hands his arm was getting tired. It really was such an odd design.

Everyone's eyes turned back to him and now the man's eyes were narrowed. He moved a few steps to the right towards the ladder, and slowly, began to descend to the lower level.

"Kanan-" the Twi'lek woman began, but the man shot her a glance and she quieted, pursing her lips. Next to her, the furred giant slowly lay down his hands.

These people were acting to calmly and too self-assured for Ezra's likening and the way that man was looking at him... The man reached the cargo floor, and he casually approached the girl, his eyes never leaving Ezra's.

Ezra felt panic rise the closer the man got, he refocused his aim on the bounty hunter, squaring his feet. "Hey- Back off! I mean it!"

The man stopped at once, only half a step in front of the girl.

"Ezra," He asked evenly, calmly. A voice that made his aching bones rattle. "What's the last thing you remember?"

The boy blinked, thrown by the new line of questioning. What did he remember? Nothing that helped him understand why he might be in this situation- that was for sure.

"I- I don't know," I was just- here and- I certainly don't remember you!" he swallowed and firmed his jaw. "I asked_ you_ a question, I_ want_ an answer!" He said quickly, turning back to his demands.

The man frowned but slowly, lay his hands down to his sides. The girl, watching over his shoulder, lay her's down too.

Closer to their blasters, Ezra noted. His arms shuddered from the weight of the tightened his arms, locking his knees to stay on his feet. What were these people going to do to him?

"We aren't bounty hunters, Ezra." the man, Kanan said quickly. "And we won't hurt you."

"Sure- and the _Empire_ is just misunderstood." Ezra snapped reflexively, unable to withhold the snarky remark.  
Did the girl's lips just twitch?

Ezra pulled in a deep breath. "Why am I here?" he demanded, adding, "_Where_ is here?"

"You're on our ship, the Ghost." Kanan replied, taking one step closer.

"But_ Why?"_

The air snapped tight again, and Ezra sensed he'd said something hurtful or shocking, judging by their faces. Where in the fried universe was he?

The bounty hunter cocked his head just so and narrowed his hard green eyes. He scrutinized Ezra's face and the boy withdrew a little at first, and then grit his teeth and shoved his jaw out, meeting the hard glare with one of his own. Who did this guy think he was?

The man blinked first, and shook his head and he turned away for half a moment, shaking his head in disbelief.  
"Ezra, do you_ really_ not know who I am?"

The question angered the boy, if partly only because the man's face did tug at something deep in the dark. He reaffirmed his hold on the blaster.

"No! Should I? No- don't answer that." he said quickly, pressing a hand against his forehead and hissing through his teeth as the pain flared- but it also pushed away the nausea. "Just- just let me out. Swing by the next rock this ship passes, drop me there and that'll be the end of it. I don't know who you think you are just picking kid of the street, and I don't know what you must've put in my drink- but I did_ not_ sign up for this ride. So let me out._ Now_."

The man's body language suddenly changed, His shoulders pulled back and he folded his arm. Leaning back on his heels and giving Ezra a flat expression.

"No."

"No?" Ezra repeated in outrage and incredulity. "Wh- You- You can't just say '_No_'!"

Kanan shrugged his shoulders, but his voice was almost apologetic. "I'm sorry, Kid. But you aren't leaving this ship. You better get yourself comfortable with that idea quickly."

Ezra gaped, his understanding of what was going on thrown so far way that he couldn't even begin to put together an argument. These people- these possibly dangerous strangers- were holding him against his will. His brain throbbed and rippled with frustration.  
"I-I-Ugh!"

Ezra threw both hands to his head, trying to relieve the pressure, ignoring the blaster awkwardly pressing against his temple.

"Be careful!" Kanan said, quickly, his voice tense.

Ezra bristled and glared, "Don't tell me what to do!" he shouted, pointing the blaster at the man's chest again.

Kanan didn't seem threatened to have the weapon leveled at his heart again, but he put out a hand and his eyes bore into the boys. "Ezra, please listen, put_ down_ the lightsaber."

If nothing had surprised him till now, this had.

"The what?" He looked again at the odd weapon in hands, and suddenly it was so obvious how it all worked- "Oh!" He said, realization in his tone and his fingers changed their hold, suddenly it felt comfortable in his hand and he automatically moved to switch it on.

"Wait!" Kanan cried, moving forward- but the saber ignited and a brilliant blue blade shot up from the hilt of the blaster.

Ezra was immediately entranced, even if it had only narrowly missed his face by a few inches. "_Woah_." he breathed, unable to blink. This was...

"Careful! You're going to take your arm off."

Ezra couldn't help but give it an experimental swing. The blade hummed and cut through the air like a more powerful, and graceful, extension of him arm. It put a sense of_ rightness_ in the world. There was balance again.  
That was why the grip was misshapen, it was a saber hilt- not a gun outright. It was some odd combination of the two and somehow, it felt perfect-

The saber was ripped from his hands. He felt the loss of it but wretched himself backwards to avoid being snatched up himself. It was funny, he hadn't even seen the man's hand move, he must be lightning fast.

Kanan deactivated the blue blade, and the calm Ezra had felt a moment ago evaporated with the otherworldly light.

"Hey! That's mine!" He snapped, glaring up at the man wielding his saber. The man frowned, taking a long moment to study his face. The boy shifted uncomfortably, but held his ground. His legs were starting to get tired and the room began to tilt again.

The man held up the lightsaber. "You say this belongs to you?" He asked evenly.

Ezra sensed a trap in the line of questioning and picked his answer carefully. "Yes. I think it's mine."

"You_ think_, or you_ know_?" the man pressed, eyeing the hand Ezra had to use to lean against the wall.

"I_ know_." Ezra spat, and shot out his other hand, palm up. "Now give it back!"

The room was silenced, the tension in the air pressing down on them. Ezra could feel the nausea returning and swallowed hard on the lump in his throat. He wanted to lie down, more then anything. He was almost too exhausted to care- but before he could breathe easy again, he needed that lightsaber. It was his, wherever he'd found it, it was his now.

He wouldn't let this man, this stranger with a face he could read like binary script- no not even this familiar face would take it from him.

Kanan's mouth tilted just so in the corners as he studied Ezra's glare, and the suddenly he blinked and the wall in his eyes was gone.

"Well, if you say so."

Then, surprisingly, the man tossed the saber up in air and Ezra fumbled, catching it against his chest with a gasp. He clutched it to his heart with sigh of relief but in catching it, lost his hold on the wall and slid down to the floor in a heap on his knees. Even the slow descent didn't soften the air being knocked out of him again. He let out a breathless groan as each part of his body made his bruises known.

"I'll make you a deal."

Ezra's neck snapped up and he glared at Kanan, glaring through the haze of pain.  
"What_ kind_ of deal?" he asked, he was exhausted, but he wasn't an idiot.

The man frowned down on him, his thick eyebrows sloping together. "You can_ keep_ the lightsaber, but in return, you cooperate with me."

Ezra grinned darkly, "Oh, and what dank little favors do you want?" Ezra had seen how the gang life worked- and he knew he preferred to work without a knife in this back. "I'm not some gangster errand boy y'know." he spat, the acid dripped from his voice. He wouldn't trust these people as far as he could throw them.

The man looked nonplussed, but he came one step closer, crouched down so his eyes were level with Ezra's, and put out a hand.

Ezra immediately flinched away, but Kanan kept his hand where it was and made no move to touch him or come closer.

"All I want." he said, casual and calm, "is you to come upstairs and let me treat your wounds. You keep the lightsaber. No one else. Just me and you."

Ezra frowned, then his eyes dipped down to the blaster on the man's belt. "Just me, you, and your blaster you mean."

Kanan followed his gaze down and sighed, almost irritated. Then with the unextended hand, slipped his pistol out of the holster and carefully placed it on the crate next to him.

"There, I've got no blaster. You keep yours. How about now?"

Ezra narrowed his eyes trying to read the man's face. Trying to find /a hint where the trap was set.

Kanan was still waiting for him to accept his hand, but he showed no sign of tiring his patience or withdrawing his hand. Ezra didn't doubt he would wait for as long as it took to get the boy to shake it.

Who were these people?_ Why_ were they being so kind to him? He left his eyes roll up and he scanned to room again. He studied each face carefully, mindful to focus and remember each feature before he looked away.  
He was surprised that he felt, disappointed, that nothing jumped out. The girl offered him a weak smile, and he frowned before pulling his eyes back to Kanan.

How could he put blind faith in these people? He didn't even know them. But, Ezra admitted, weakly to himself- he almost_ wanted_ to, and that put him on edge.

As the silence stretched on, Kanan inclined his head just so, tightened his jaw and said in a firm and pointed tone,  
"You_ need_ medical attention, Ezra. Don't let your pride stand between you and yourself."

The boy made a face at that, but when he looked away. He realised he was gritting his teeth to cope with the throb in his ears. His head ached more than ever, and the pain in his sides was getting worse with every second.

Ezra had taken falls before, and if these were injuries from a fall like the girl had said, they were certainly not good. He wanted, if not needed, medical attention- but he couldn't comprehend why this man was trying to give it to him. He had so many questions, and they all buzzed loudly in his tender brain.

Ezra glanced around, the room, taking in the faces of the crew. The purple giant looked offended and then abashed. The Twi'lek woman was giving him an anxious look, but her expression warmed into a smile. The girl tossed her head to throw her bangs off her face, narrowed her eyes and squared her jaw. It made her look fierce and Ezra quickly pulled his eyes back to the man.

"Okay." He said, exhaling hard all at once, clutching the lightsaber against his heart. He let some of the tension seep out his shoulders for just a moment. The pressure in his chest eased.

"Good," said Kanan, and he smiled just a little. "When you're feeling better, you can ask all the questions you like."

Ezra blurted the first words that bubbled to the surface. "Who_ are_ you guys?"

The bounty hunters' green eyes crinkled just a little, and Ezra thought he saw just a flash of humor there before it was blinked away.

"My name is Kanan, and I am a Jedi."

* * *

I'm sorry everyone. It just happened.  
**R&amp;R** for good Karma and more trash writing.


	11. An Off Day

Wow guys, such positive response after the last chapter! Just for that I _Am_ working on a follow up to Amnesia, hopefully stretching it another two chapters. Thankyou everyone :3 You made my day!

In the mean time, here's Sabine having a bad day. I don't know about you but sometimes I will be in a foul mood until I eat something- even if I don't want too. And if I'm feeling frumpy- being told I'm pretty makes defensively angry. Haha mood swings right?

**An Off day**

* * *

Sabine was having an off day.

First, she'd spilled sealant on her new sketchbook, sticking half the pages together. Then she discovered her dye mix had dried up and her highlights would have to wait until another opportunity. She grumbled and finally moved to get dressed, only to find a long scratch in her shoulder plate she was sure hadn't been there after the last mission, and this one cut through both the surface layer _and_ the base coat.

The entire piece needed to be repainted- which was not the problem, but the lack of sealant was. She'd have to just deal with the awful mark until she could find time to visit the paint stores back in Central.

Breakfast only served to sour her mood even further when she discovered Kanan had used the last of the herbal tea, and Zeb had eaten the last of the waffles. Sabine huffed and was quick to brush off having breakfast all together, too put out to bother pulling a meal together. It was _not _her morning and her irritation at every little thing was starting to built a tight hot knot in her chest.

Then Hera had told Sabine she was sending her and Ezra on a supply run into the nearest township.

Sabine had begged Hera, as subtly and _politely_ as she could in her mood, to send Zeb along instead- or at least send her _alone_. She feared any time along with the infatuated boy would be a painful exercise in patience she just did _not_ have today.

But Hera had firmly told her Zeb was busy helping her replace the coolant system. And Ezra was already ready and waiting to go.

"But Hera-"

"Ezra isn't _that bad_, Sabine. Just make do." Hera answered shortly, leaning a little to heavily on her tone and a hint of warning in her eyes. There would be no more discussion on the topic. Sabine dropped the argument and turned away with a snort, pulling on her helmet.

Ezra appeared, sliding down the cargo hold ladder, bouncing his backpack on his shoulders. His face was a set in a happy smile.  
"Ready Sabine? The speeders are all fueled up."

Great, he was in one of _those _moods. Chopper must have let him sleep the night through for once.

Sabine was glad she had her helmet, and didn't have to hide the scowl she gave him through her visor. She gave Hera a half nod and said "We'll be back soon." in a curt tone, before marching down the cargo ramp and climbing on board her jumpspeeder.

Surprisingly, Ezra had been good company, but Sabine was still put out that she hadn't had the morning she planned. So while he happily chatted about this and that and what amazing thing Kanan had most recently done, and how his training was improving; Sabine had mostly tuned the excitable boy out in favour of a well deserved sulk, occasionally running a thumb over the gash in her beloved paints.  
It was hot out today, but she curtly refused to remove her helmet. Her hair felt limp and plain and she didn't want anyone to see the very slight tinge of natural boring brown showing through at her roots.

They'd found the needed supplies in good time and under budget. Sabine had made a point of carrying the supplies herself even after Ezra offered twice- because she wanted to make sure all the supplies made it back to the Ghost. She did _not _want to make two trips today or face Hera's wrath by returning empty handed.

Despite Sabine's fears, Ezra had only made one hard unwanted pass at her her entire morning. A tall woman dressed in thin expensive silks had passed them in the market, waving gracefully through the crowd with the airs of someone who could afford to take their time. Sabine turned and caught Ezra opening staring, eyeing the rich layers, and probably the woman underneath them. Irritation bloomed, rightfully justified, and she'd elbowed him, maybe a little harder than necessary, in the ribs.  
He grinned sweepingly, rubbing at the coming bruise and pointed a thumb in the woman's wake. His eye brow cocked in amusement.

"I think you'd look better in that then she does." he told her smoothly, leaning into his words with a purr she'd long learned to ignore.

Sabine pointedly rolled her eyes and huffed- partly because it was obvious flattery, and partly because it was _inaccurate_ flattery. Her hair felt limp and dry without a colour refresher, and her skin was slick with sweat and dust. Comparing Sabine, a gritty, armored _beanpole_, to a willowy silken mistress like that, was absurd, and boarded on insulting! Sabine didn't need silks, and she didn't need false compliments! Sabine huffed and readjusted the heavy sack slung over her shoulder, the knot of tension gave a throb and the tightness spread through her chest. Was it the heat under her helmet, or did her face feel flushed?

Ezra didn't seem to notice her mood however as he spotted something through the crowd. He took her by the arm and suddenly began to pull her along. "Look! A _Virrn Sheen_ vendor!" he said excitedly. "Have you tried it? Its delicious, you _have_ to try it. Come on, we have time before we need to be back. My treat!"

She pulled her arm free, but followed him at a distance. She didn't want food, the tightness in her chest pushed away any appetite. But it was often easier to just let Ezra have his way when he got excitable. "I'll pay for myself." she told him firmly, pushing two credits into his hand. She didn't want him to think buying her _street meat_ classified as a _date._

He shrugged and placed an order, almost bouncing with excitement as he waited.

"I haven't had _Virrn Sheen_ in ages! The only vendor in central got booted out the market years back when the new regulations came though. You're gonna love it, it's really good!"

Sabine doubted anything sold out of a market cart parked in the sun all day could be anywhere near the expectations Ezra was building, but she bit her tongue and nodded along anyway until their order was called. The sooner they ate, the sooner they could leave. The sooner she could go back to the solace of her bunk. She dumped the supplies at her feet with a sigh and folded her arms as they waited.

The smell from the hot plates was surprisingly appetizing, and Sabine's stomach rumbled a little, reminding her she'd forgone breakfast in her bad mood.

_Virrn shee_n turned out to be a spiced meat cooked on wooden skewers. Sabine didn't know what kind of meat it was exactly, but Ezra seemed so buzzed to be handing her the skewer that she didn't want to ruin his mood by asking. It looked like decent cuts at the very least and the colour of the spices was brilliant mixture of yellow and ochre.

She removed her helmet- trying to be casual about wiping the sweat off her forehead and attempting to smooth her hair back. She felt exposed, and she wanted to go back to her bunk where no one could see her. But, she accepted the the skewer Ezra handed her between two fingers, frowning at the meat.

The wood was cut thin and she had trouble holding it properly through her thick gloves. She sighed heavily, and tried to remove one glove, one handedly under her arm and balancing her helmet under the other-  
and dropped her skewer in the process.

Sabine watched it fall to the ground, too annoyed to even _try_ catching it. Letting out a hard growl of frustration as is bounced in the dust. Kriff Today!

The skewer had barely touched the ground though before Ezra bent and snatched it up. He blindly pushed his untouched one into her hands, and blew a section of dust off the soiled meat.  
"Here, eat mine." he told her, brushing the dustiest end of the food with his fingers, and then on his pants.

Sabine tried to push the offering away, even if she did want it- she'd dropped hers. That didn't mean he had to lose his. He'd been so excited. "Ezra, no." she told him flatly. "That one's yours."

He shrugged, forcing her to take the second skewer. "I'll eat this one." He said, and brushed a little more of the grit off the meat, unconcerned.

"You can't eat that. It's filthy." she protested. In truth, it wasn't _that _badly soiled, but Sabine had already decided the day was ruined and nothing would save it.

Ezra, however, just gave her a wry smile, and promptly tore the first meat cut off with his teeth. He chewed thoughtfully, all while Sabine made an uncomfortable, but unsurprised face.

"Its just a little dirt." he said between mouthfuls, his tone still unchanged. He gave her a crooked smile, and gave a pointed nod to the one in her hands, and _winked_. "A little dirt keeps you tough." he told her, and taking another large bite.

Sabine looked to the untouched skewer in her hands. Something in his tone suggested he'd said this before and that he truly thought it wasn't a big deal. And he'd made such a fuss about making her try it. But still...

Sabine took a small bite from the end of the skewer. It was salty and moist at first, and then her tongue was lit up with a mixture of sharp and spicy favours. It almost stung her mouth, which was immediately filled with saliva as her taste buds called for more. It was good. Really good. Or at least it sure beat ration bars and re-hydrated protein packs.

Sabine took a larger bite, she could feel the heat and the tension in her chest loosening. She took a deep breath and sighed, then lifted her face and smiled properly for the first time that day.

"Good, right?" he asked, already tearing the last piece off and licking his fingers clean. "See, you should trust me more."

Sabine swallowed her mouthful, and licked her lips. "You can't blame me for being skeptical! You'll eat anything." A playful note had returned to her voice and the brilliant grin he gave her made her think that had been his game all along. She ignored his shining eyes and returned her focus to the delicious meat she'd been offered.  
"If dirt makes you tough, maybe you should lick the streets more often."

He laughed. "I've done enough street licking in my time." Then he reached out and took the supply sack from the ground near her feet, swinging it over his shoulder while her mouth was too full to protest. "Now, do you want to go see the best paint store in town, or not? I didn't have time to show you last time we were here. It's near a pawn shop I used to work for."

"You worked for a pawn shop?" she asked, surprised.

Ezra waved a dismissive hand. "I did all kinds of work. Now come on- we're burning daylight and You know Hera only likes to touch solid ground for so long."

Sabine quickly finished off her skewer and replaced her gloves, but left her helmet under her arm, enjoying the cool market breeze.  
Maybe it was the feeling of good food in her belly, or the blush the hot spices had put in her cheeks, but the tightness in her chest was completely gone.  
She eyed his crooked grin pasted across his face, as he waited patiently for her to move on.  
Sabine stepped in close and quickly slid her arm through the crook of his elbow, pulling him tight against her, and _smiling_.

The cocky glint in his eyes was immediately replaced with surprise and he stumbled on his words, trying to hide the blush on his cheeks.

"So uh- paint store, yeah?"

Sabine smiled. "Lead the way, kid."  
Today wasn't so bad after all.

* * *

**R&amp;R** for teenage mood swings and gentleman Ezra.


	12. Amnesia II

**AN: **Wow guys. You broke _100_ reviews! I'm so pleased you've had fun reading my silly Au fics.  
You asked for more of the Amnesia Arc, so here it is. I'm not 100% on it, but we'll see where this goes shall we? Tell me what you thought!  
As always, many thanks and respect to Unfathomablefandoms for betaing my endless fics!

**Amnesia II  
**

* * *

The trip upstairs was awkward at best.

Ezra had tried to climb the ladder that led to the second level. But as soon as his feet were secured on the bottom rung, and he tried to pull himself up; everything around him dimmed into darkness. He felt himself lose hold of the ladder and consciousness. It was like being swallowed up into sleep, without the comfort, and just the sudden loss of awareness.

When he came too, he was on the second level. He was strung between Kanan and the girl, and arm over each shoulder. The bright lights pounded into his head, the color of the girl's armor blended with the spots dancing in his vision. He noticed that the purple giant, the Twi'lek woman and the astromech had disappeared.

"I've got it, thanks." He said shortly, withdrawing his arms and stepping away. He was quick to put a hand out on the wall and taking a deep breath of air. They allowed him to step away without argument, but remained within arms reach.

Ezra ignored them and pushed forward on his feet, taking in the internal shape of the ship as he went. He used the wall for support and made decent progress through the second landing. He readjusted his hold on the lightsaber, _his l_ightsaber, squeezing it hard. He felt somewhat safe, as long as it was in his hands.  
_  
_They came to an open room, with a holo table to one side and droid charging station set into the wall. Ezra quickly scanned the room, and the orange astromech was still no where in sight. He filed this information away for later. If this ship had a droid, there was likely to be a handful of useful parts laying around that no one would immediately notice missing. Droid parts were endlessly useful in the right kind of hands.

"We don't have a medic-room," the man- Kanan- _the Jedi_\- Ezra mentally tacked on, stepped forward and around him, and swept through the small common area towards a corridor of closed hatches.

"Is there something wrong with this nice _big_, open, well lit, room with no small doorways?" Ezra demanded, the roll of his eyes more implied by tone, rather than the action. Even moving his eyes hurt by now.

The Jedi's face flashed with something vexing, before falling neutral again. Not insult, Ezra thought, more like the man had remembered something unpleasant.

"If you _insist_, that's fine." Kanan answered tightly, keying the lock on the side of the door, which opened with a swoop. "However _this_ room has a flat bunk, dimmer lighting and less noise."

Ezra realised all at once he was wincing in the bright light and yes, the the walls did still clearly hum a little more noticeably than he'd like right now. It put his teeth on edge.  
Ezra frowned, put his head down and moved towards the hallway, ignoring the urge to sit down where he was.

The girl followed him to the entrance of a dimly lit room, and Kanan stood back to let them through first. Ezra hesitated in the doorway, eyeing the man for a moment before moving into the room.

The room was sparse, but there were two wide bunks set in the far wall and a ladder.  
Kanan entered behind him, and gestured to the bottom bunk. Ezra took in a deep breath, and moved over, carefully sinking down onto the thin mattress.

"Watch your head." Kanan added as he ducked under the top bunk.

Ezra snorted, his expression dry as he tried to settle in a position that didn't make his aches worse."It's a bit late for that." he said, and his temple throbbed as if to remind him.

Kanan gave him a pained look, then he smiled, just a little like he could see the joke.  
The man moved and began raiding drawers set into the walls.  
Ezra watched every drawer that appeared in the seams of the wall panels, taking note of the contents. Out of them Kanan pulled several rolls of gauze, saline, and some batca patches that Ezra was pleased to see.  
The man began to unpack his supplies on a counter that extended out of the wall, beside a small sink. Ezra was impressed, not every ship- or everyone, could afford running recycled water.

Ezra looked around, uncomfortably aware the girl was still watching him, and since he'd pulled the blaster on her, he found it difficult to look her in the eye. He couldn't shake the feeling that he'd done something wrong- which was ridiculous. _He _was the victim here!  
She was standing in the doorway with her shoulder against the frame and her eyes narrowed at him. Her arms were folded tightly against her chest, and Ezra wanted to look at her- he wanted to look at that weird orange symbol again. But he didn't dare show her any attention while her focus was still on him, and she refused to look away.  
Ezra tried keep his expression stony, trying to pay attention to the man's hands as he fluttered around the room, and not the aching in his bones.

"You could just give me the patches, you know. I know how to use them." Ezra suggested, but he had a feeling it wasn't going to work.

"The deal was that you _let_ me treat you." Kanan said shortly, peeling the backing off a batapatch.

Ezra frowned, his temper flaring, this guy had all the moral ground of a _pirate_

"You also said it was just gonna be you and me. " His shot back, and pointed to the armoured girl, who hadn't taken her focus off him once. It was putting him on edge and he was _done_ with these strangers in his space. He shot her a cold look."Is there something I can _help_ you with? Or are you happy just staring?" he demanded bluntly.

Her posture straightened and she looked taken aback that Ezra had addressed her so rudely, and maybe, a little hurt.

Ezra immediately felt guilt nipping at his conscience. He considered apologising, she'd been kind enough to him so far, and really he wasn't _bothered_ by her presence. He just was just looking to make an argument and take the attention off. He was tired and aching- and these strangers wouldn't let him go _home._ He had every right to snap!_  
_He pushed the guilt away, something he was well practiced at. As soon as he'd had a moment to rest- he was gone.  
Her expression had already recovered. Her attention turned to Kanan, who was watching the interaction with narrowed, thoughtful eyes.

"Do you need any help, Kanan?" she asked evenly.

The man began to shake his head, then glanced over Ezra again and hesitated. "Can you bring us some tea? The sleepy kind. I have a headache the size of a cruiser." She narrowed her eyes at him, and the nodded slowly.

Ezra opened his mouth to say he didn't _want_ tea. He didn't want Kanan to stitch him up- and he didn't want to be _here._  
But the girl had already disappeared.

The pressure was building back up in his head and squeezing his lightsaber wasn't helping any more. Ezra swallowed the frustrated groan, but it slipped out in the verve of his voice.  
"Can we speed this up, please? I didn't stay for snacks."

Kanan frowned, but pulled a blue soft parcel out of another drawer and snapped it in half with a crack. The pack immediately began to frost up, and Kanan wrapped it inside a soft towel. "Here," he said, pushing it into Ezra's hands.

Ezra looked at it, blinking in confusion. "Uh, thanks?"

"It's a cold pack," Kanan told him, and when Ezra showed no more understanding, the man gently pushed his hand and the pack up to his forehead. The sudden change in temperature jolted him awake and Ezra let out a heavy sigh as the chill instantly began to push back at the throbbing headache.

"Oh. Thanks." Ezra said numbly, blissfully enjoying the burning chill on his temple. He could feel a lump forming and he applied as much pressure as he dared, trying to press the swollen tissue back into his skull.

"Don't mention it."

Ezra gave the man another long minute of silence as he prepared the medical bench. The boy was relieved he wouldn't have to have another argument with the man over the necessity of needles. He pressed the coldpack into his head a littler firmer, it ached, but the cold was lifting away some of the pressure throbbing on the inside.  
Ezra stared on the floor, looking for a spot to focus on that wouldn't start to spin after a few seconds. His eyelids began to droop and he fought off a yawn.

"I thought you had questions."

Ezra jerked awake, and his neck cracked. He winced, and rubbed at a knot at the base of his skull. The man was eyeing him carefully from a safe distance. "I- I do." Ezra answered quickly.

Kanan, wrung out a cloth in the sink and approached the bunk slowly. He lifted a hand and guided the cold pack away from Ezra's head. He lifted the cloth- and Ezra filched away, eyeing it warily before was was sure there were no hidden agendas for the damp rag.  
Kanan waited patiently, allowing him a moment to inspect it without a hint of expression on his face. Satisfied, Ezra sat up straight again, and looked away, allowing the man to press the cloth to his temple.

It stung at first, and the sharp smell made his nostrils flare. But in a few quick swipes, his face was cleaned.

"Then ask them." Kanan said, breaking the quiet and reaching for a bacta patch on the counter.

Ezra licked his lips and swallowed. He could already feel his cheeks burning. This felt humiliating- letting this stranger clean and tend his wounds. Like he was a _kid_ for kriff sake. Like he needed his help.  
If only Ezar's arms weren't limp and his eyes too tired to see- he could do this himself. Why was the stranger so determined to help? Who _was_ the crazy man?

"I thought all the Jedi were wiped out."

The words tumbled out before he could think them over and Ezra froze. That was certainly not as tactfully as he'd liked, but there it was.

He felt the man tense on the bunk beside him- but his hands were steady. He smoothed the edges of the bacta patch down- gently but firmly. Then he reached for another.

"There's still few of us around." Kanan said finally. "You believe everything the Empire tells you?"

Ezra snorted, "Only when I need to be told a good lie."

Kanan smile was tense but amused. "I had a feeling you were a free thinker."

"Is that your way of saying 'stupid'?"

His smile widened, and a little of it reached his eyes. "Hardly." he said with a chuckle. "Why don't you tell me what _you_ know about the Jedi, first."

"I thought _I_ got to ask the questions?" Ezra demanded, leaning heavily on his tone and giving the man a cautious look.

"Humour me." Kanan said, reaching for a roll of gauze.

Ezra sucked in his bottom lip and chewed it, considering the man's request. What _did_ he know about the Jedi? What did he remember from his mother's old stories? They were just fables now, weren't they? Only- Ezra glanced at the man, who was waiting patiently for Ezra to speak and untacking the bandage. A cowboy who introduced himself as a _Jedi._ He was no fable, no, he was very real. But could he actually _be_ a _Jedi?_

Ezra's hand squeezed again on the smooth metal in his palm and he glanced down at the odd weapon. It _was_ a lightsaber. There was no denying that. And lightsabers were the weapon of the _Jedi._

He didn't know where to start questioning why it might be in his hands or why he might be so sure it belonged to him. He must have stolen it, surely. Maybe he'd stolen it from this man right here?

Ezra narrowed his eyes, trying to steady his vision. Kanan didn't seem mad. He was... worried, sure. Ezra could feel the anxiety rolling off him in waves, but none of it felt directed towards him- more likely, _about_ him.

It made no sense, either way.  
But there was something reasurung, and comfortable, in the way Kanan said 'humour me'.

"They were Knights and Masters." Ezra said eventually, trying to be careful with his words. "They protected the galaxy. They... they used lightsabers."

Kanan nodded thoughtfully, and lifted up the gauze. He began to unspool it against Ezra's temple, keeping the pressure firm but never tight.

"All true. They were peacekeepers. Even during the war they did their best to fight back against the Separatists without straying from the Code. Though, some would disagree."

"The Code?"

"The Jedi Code." Kanan answered his hands stopped for just a moment. "It doesn't quite apply any more. Not the way it used to."

"So... you're a Jedi that breaks the rules then?"

Kanan surprised him, but smiling. A lopsided tweek in the corners of his mouth and eyes and Ezra felt sort of pleased he'd made the joke. His sense of humour was often underappreciated, if only for lack of audience.  
Kanan straightened the bandage layers, and laughed softly. "I guess that's one way of putting it."

Ezra fell quiet, absorbing the words and trying to ignore the ringing in his ears. He felt comfortable here, talking with the man- and he didn't like that one bit.  
"Why were they wiped out?"

Kanan tensed again, though his eyes darted away this time and Ezra thought he'd pushed too far. The bandage was secured, the end tucked away at the back of his head, and Ezra lifted the cold pack back against the bump, resisting the urge to sigh in relief.

"I don't think even I will ever fully know the answer to that, Ezra." Kanan replied slowly, his voice was heavy and controlled and his eyes distant.

Ezra let the answer wash over him for moment. It struck a chord deep inside him, one that spoke of hardship and grief, but mostly; survival. Ezra could understand that. He knew what it was like to be on your own, struggling.

But he wasn't going to share that, not with this stranger. His chest tightened, and he thought it probably wasn't to do with his injuries.

Kanan shifted in his seat and turned to a face Ezra fully, his expression was... it looked _real_, and it calmed Ezra somewhat.

"Ezra, close your eyes with me."

"I'd rather not- I'm dizzy enough as it is." Ezra snorted, making sure to coat his tone with a heavy dose of scepticism.

The man just smiled, and said, "Trust me."

The words rang in his ears- and Ezra didn't dare shake his head to clear it.  
Trust him? A complete stranger?

Ezra shifted his eyes away from the Jedi's green ones, It was unsettling just how familiar and honest those eyes seemed. This man was either the most _brilliant_ con artist Ezra had ever met, or...

Ezra sucked in a hard breath, rolling his tongue and fitting it between his teeth.

He didn't say a word, but he closed his eyes.

He immediately felt stupid. His head was still pounding, and his muscles ached, he pulled in a breath- ready to declare the exercise a failure.

"Relax, Ezra."

Kanan's voice cut a booming thunder in the quiet- Ezra wasn't sure how he'd managed to make his words vibrate the air and in his skin. Was this the power of the Jedi? Vocal projection?

"Take a deep breath, and focus."

Ezra felt his mouth twist in frustration and he snapped. "Focus on _what_ exactly? My broken head?"

The silence that answered, hurt and Ezra felt ashamed for speaking so bluntly. "I-"

"Its _okay_, Ezra." Kanan spoke, and his words were gentle. Ezra was surprised he didn't sound annoyed, or angry. Only patient.

"Just follow me. Breath deep." Kanan said, pulling in a long slow suck of air, and exhaling with his words. "Calm your mind, and _focus_."

Ezra frowned, squeezing his eyes tightly.

He tried to focus. On _what_ exactly he wasn't sure. He could feel Kanan sitting like a statue beside him, and tried not to shift to noticeably in his seat.

The longer the quiet lasted, the less ridiculous Ezra felt. Finally feeling his heart rate slow down, and the throbbing in his head decreased a little.

There was a pressure in the air Ezra hadn't noticed before- or rather, a void of pressure. Like all the oxygen had been sucked out of the room, except for the air that circled him and Kanan.  
The air was... it wasn't alive- but it was _present,_ like Ezra had never realised before. The dust in the air began to hum and each breath he exhaled sent a ripple through the universe and it upset the gravity. Suddenly Ezra could feel further than he ever had before. He could feel everything at once. The ship he was on was a grain of sand and Lothal called out to him somewhere below his feet. His spine was humming, and that usaullt meant trouble wasn't far way. But there was no urge to run or lingerng unease like usual, this time it didnt bother him. It helped take some of the pressure off and his head felt a little better. It was almost a soothing sesanation, like the coldpack.

The stars far out in space pulsated light and life and everything was buzzing together in harmoney. Ezra was awestruck, because he'd never felt so at home in the universe.

Then he began to feel dizzy again, and he inwardly groped for anything to steady his spinning.

He found a link. Or was it a chain or bridge? Whatever it was, it was hot and the gravity of his world began to straighten again and Ezra found himself directly facing the white hot centre of a star.  
Ezra was stunned by the sight, and a small piece of his wondered what would happen if he reached out and plucked at the band that connected him to it.  
The webbing bounced and vibrated, and then all at once it snapped tight. The rope began to steadily retract, pulling Ezra towards the centre of the miniature sun.

Panic filled him. _I'll burn._ Ezra thought fearfully. _I'll burn up and melt like dew on a hot day._ He was small and insignificant and _afraid._

There was a fizzle in the air, it was vibrating the atoms in his skin. The heat began to burn.

Ezra squeezed his eyes, trying to see past the heat waves in his mind. The star- no, the _supernova_ before him seemed to grow even brighter. Ezra's breaths came in short uneven gasps, he was overwhelmed and frightened.  
He tried to withdraw from the heat, squeezing his eyes shut and pulling inward.

Kanan's voice rang out again, only now the light fluctuated and grew with the verve of his voice. The _"Ezra. Calm down."_

Ezra grit his teeth "I- I can't." The universe was too hot and there was a cold burn deep in his bones. He sought it out, desperate to find relief from the light. He wanted the dark where there was no pain or heat or fear.

_"You can. You just need to breath-"_

"I _am_ breathing. It's all I _can_ do right now!"  
It was. He couldn't move, he couldn't run away- he was frozen in place with a chill growing in his chest and the threat of hot death looming.

_"Ezra."_

Kanan's voice was fainter now. The light was growing dimmer, the star was fading into the distance. The light stretched across the distance, reaching for him.

_"Stop."_

_I can't be fooled into trusting these people,_ Ezra remembered with a pang. The cold spread under his skin. _There is no one I can trust. Everyone always leaves. I am alone…_

Ezra pulled away-

_"I said_ stop_, Ezra,"_

Ezra came awake with a gasp and a jolt and a sudden flood of pain returning to his body. He felt the world slip away for a moment again, but two warm hands steadied him and lay him down gently onto the mattress.

The spinning began to settle the moment he was horizontal and Ezra groaned, trying to blink a bright circle of light out of his vision. Why was it suddenly so quiet? Had he always felt this... alone?

"Ezra- can you hear me?"

A shudder ran up his spine and Ezra felt his mouth open and heard himself speak between chattering teeth. "I'm cold." He clutched at his arms, hunching on his side, trying to stop the shivering while the hair on the back of his neck stood on end.

A soft weight was throw over him, and Ezra blinked before pulling the blanket around his shoulders and leaning into the comfort of somthing warm wrapped around him.

"Thanks." He said groggily, and pulled himself up with a groan. Why did his head ache so badly again? Why had he dreamed about the stars? Ezra blinked blearily at Kanan, perched on the side of the bed, looking gaunt and and unsettled.  
"What's wrong?" he asked a little worriedly, had he done something? What had happened again?

Kanan dragged a hand down his face, scrubbing at his eyes. "You sure know how to give a man a heart attack, Kid." He breathed.

Ezra twisted his mouth, completely lost why the man was on about.

"Kanan."

They both looked up, and it was the girl standing in the doorway again, now carrying a tray and two cups.  
Ezra felt the pinch in his gut again he was suddenly awake. He looked away quickly so she couldn't see his cheeks burn. He felt silly for snapping at her before. _She's kidnapping me too,_ he reminded himself firmly. _I can't be fooled._

Kanan smiled graciously if a little weak, and indicated the counter. The girl lay the try down without a glance in Ezra's direction and he tried not to feel disappointed.

She tucked the tray under her arm. "Sleepy blend, like you asked. Hera," she spoke, flicking her eyes at Ezra for half a beat, "is waiting for a status report."

"Soon." Kanan said, nodding absently, sweeping away the supplies on the counter.

The girl returned the nod, orange bangs bouncing on her face, and turned on her heel and left.

"Keep the pressure on that coldpack." Kanan directed, and Ezra found the strength to roll his eyes, but did as he was told.  
Kanan turned the cups over, and lifted the lid on the pot, eyeing the contents.

Ezra winced. "I don't like tea."

"I think you'll like this one." Kanan said, pouring the small kettle over the the cups. Steam rose into the air, and a sweet hot smell invaded Ezra nose. His nostrils flared and he swallowed on the sickly taste in his mouth.

Ezra opened his mouth to say "_No- I wont_", but instead he felt hot bile flood his mouth, and he bent over the side of the bunk and threw up.

Kanan was quick to act, and thrust a metallic bucket under him before he could spill a drop. Ezra clutched one hand around the bucket's edge and heaved, squeezing tight on the sabre handle in the other as the throbbing in his head surged with each heave.

He heaved until the bile stopped coming- and then a little more gagging on the chunks in his throat. He was more surprised than anything, at how much food was coming out of him- he didn't usually have a belly this full. His head and body ached with hard jerk of his oesophagus and the acid creeping up his throat burned.

A last the heaving ceased, and Ezra pulled his head out of the bucket with a moan. Something cold and damp was swiped across his chin, and the bucket was taken out of his trembling hands. He let it go, blinking numbly and trying to remember what was happening though this spinning haze.

"Drink this. It will help with the taste if nothing else."

A warm smooth cup was pressed into his hands, and remembering the water from before, Ezra eagerly drank the warm liquid as quickly as he could without burning his tongue. It was sickly sweet, heavily dosed with honey and something a little sour he couldn't name. He closed his eyes, feeling the strength falling out of him.

"Ugh, I feel like I got hit with a landspeeder." he breathed, feeling his head sinking down onto his chest.  
The pounding in his head was growing louder again, drumming against the inside of his skull. He groaned and pressed his knuckles against the bandages.

"Here- more tea." said a voice, replacing the empty cup in his hands and lifting the hand to his mouth. Ezra drank again- if only because he could still taste acid in his mouth and that sour taste had lingered. He drained the cup again- enjoying the feeling of something warm in his unsettled belly.  
"Keep drinking."

What was this man's deal with _tea_? Ezra tried to say so, but his mouth was having more difficulty forming the words. "I don't- I don't want tea," he stumbled out.

"Well it's all I got right now, Kid." Kanan replied with a heavy sigh, and Ezra felt the matress depress as Kanan returned and pressed a cool hand to his forehead. The touch surprised him, and he flinched away.  
"Don't worry- we're going to get you the help you need."

The help he needed? That sounded awfuly ominous. A shiver ran down his spine and Ezra shook himself awake- ignoring the feeling of fluid swishing about in his brain. "I don't need help." he said through gritted teeth, forcing his eyes open.

Kanan's face swam back into view. He looked worried- which was ridiculous because no one worried about Ezra.  
Ezra dropped his eyes again, trying to ignore the pang in his chest. "I just- I just need to go home."

"Look into this." Kanan said curtly, and suddenly there was a small bright light shining in his eyes.

Ezra threw up a hand. "Are you trying to blind me?" He demanded, but there was no anger in his voice- he was too tired to be angry any more. He just wanted to sleep.

Kanan gently knocked his hands away, and wiggled the torch spot from eye to eye. "No," he answered, frowning with dissatisfaction as he clicked the pen light off. "But you almost certainly have a concussion."

"Yeah- I _know_. I just _wasted_ good food." Ezra huffed wearily. "Now you've patched me up- you gunna let me go home now?" Suerly this man was sick of playing medic by now?

Kannan stood up, brushing off his pants and the question. "You need an internal scan. We're going to take you to a proper medic."

Ezra jerked upright, finding the strength in his panic. Eyes wide and letting the cold pack clatter to the floor.  
"What? No! That wasn't part of the deal!" he shot out, stressing his words. A chill entered his chest again. "You never said you were _taking_ me anywhere- you can't! I have to go _home_! Back to Lothal!"

Kanan at least had the decency to look apologetic- but his face was firm. "That was before I could see how badly you need one. We don't have that kind of tech here on board the Ghost. We're taking you to a medic and that's the end of it."

Ezra let the hot fury push him to his feet, but his words were failing him. His eyes were trying to slip closed. "You... You can't just, force me to come with you!"

Kanan sighed, folding the counter and the sink into the wall again. "Just lie down and get some sleep, Ezra. I need to go speak to Hera. We'll discuss what the plan is once you've had a proper scan and the medic has cleared you."

"There wont be _any_ plan!" Ezra shouted, grabbing onto the ladder for support as the nausea returned in full force, and clutching the lightsaber in his other. If only he had the strength to lift it up and aim-

He couldn't lift his arms though, he couldn't move his feet. What was happening? He threw his head up, trying to at least stand up straight. But everything began to spin again.

"Careful. The sedatives should help give you some proper rest. You'll wake up soon, as soon as we've found help." A hand pried his fingers off the ladder, and pushing him gently back down onto the bunk. He fell against the mat with a moan and trying to roll onto a side that wasn't bruised. "I'm sorry Kid, but you weren't making this easy on yourself."

_Sedatives_? Ezra asked internally, blindly shaking his head. He hadn't taken any sedatives. He would never had-

"The tea?" Ezra said numbly out loud.

"The tea." Answered Kanan in a soft voice.

Ezra stared at the bunk above him, a chasm of fury and hurt opening up in him. Betrayal and anger.  
How dare this man think he could order Ezra about, like he knew best. Tossing him from end to end of the galaxy! All because he patched him up? He'd drugged him!  
Who knew where Ezra would end up now. Who did these people think they were?! What were they going to do to him?  
He should have never trusted them. He should have run away!

His heart panged and Ezra had to fight the sudden burning in his eyes. "You _can't_ do this!" he tried, his voice cracked and he the room was tilting in the wrong direction again. Ezra forced his head to turn and he saw the man standing in the door, silhouetted by the light in the hallway.

The man's eyes were unreadable, but his face was a mask of duty and Ezra had no question he truly thought he was doing the right thing. That blasted, lying _sonaofa_-

"I'm sorry. It's for the best, Ezra." Kanan answered shortly, reaching for the keypad on the wall.  
Alarm bells began to trill loudly in Ezra's ears. Oh no-

"Get some rest. I will be back soon."

Ezra wanted to leap for the door, for the only escape- but the hatch pulled shut with an audible _click-hiss_ and Ezra couldn't move. The room got dark and all sense of gravity began to fade as the ceiling began to tumble in a circle.

"This is what I get for making deals." Ezra muttered darkly, and let the warm pull of the sedatives rise up around his ears and swallow him.

* * *

**R&amp;R or good Karma and to save Ezra's brain. **


	13. Ezra's Hot New Ride

AN: Sorry about the wait guys- I had a busy month. But I've got a few updates ready for you.  
I am still intending to write more for the Amnesia arc- But like i said, it wasn't something that had a longer story planned out. I am still working on it, in the meantime, I'm still going to work on other shots as well. Be patient younglings, I must allow the force to guide me.

It was cannoafide in an interview with the Rebels team only a few days ago that in Ezra went out and lifted his own speeder. But this was already written after I noticed Ezra's speeder just appeared on the show one day, so I'm just going to roll with it.

Anyone notice that when Kanan is taken in a call to action- they loose all their bikes? Sabine explodes hers, and Ezra and Kanan abandoned theirs at the base of the tower. So there will, presumably, be No speeder bikes or some New speeder bikes in season 2.

This doesn't feel very In Character at the start, but I pushed through it. What do you think? This is set a few days/weeks ahead of 'Idiots Array' which is the first appearance of Ezra's hot new ride.

**Ezra's Hot New Ride.**

* * *

It had been a rare day of rest for the Ghost crew- which in truth only meant they Rebel team was between Imperial sabotage and odd jobs for Vizargo.

Hera took the term 'rest' loosely, and quickly established a chore list for each member of the crew- maintenance on the Ghost was a never ending task, and one that required constant oversight.

Ezra and Sabine grumbled, but set about their given tasks without much of an argument. Chopper assisted Hera in recalibrating the coordinates systems which meant taking the whole ship off-line few a few hours, and Kanan and Zeb were sent on a much needed supply run and strongly encouraged to haggle. Hera had sent the two men, party because she needed both the youngest Spectre's skills on board- but also perhaps because she quite trust the kids, or rather Ezra and Zeb, to get any work done if they were allowed a moment distract each other.

It was mid afternoon when Ezra, having finished all the jobs he and Sabine had been given, pointed out that Zeb and Kanan should have been back with the stock by now.  
Hera frowned and pulled out her com.

"Specter 1 and 4- this is Specter 2. _Where_ are you?"

_"__Ten-four, Specter 2. Specter 4 and I have gotten... a little distracted."_

There was a clink of glassware and a rumble of cheers in the background. Hera rolled her eyes dramatically. Perhaps the kids weren't the only who were easily sent off course. "This distraction would happen to be Jho's bar, would it?" she asked sweetly.

_"__Don't worry. We're staying out of trouble."_ Kanan supplied. _"__We'll be back by dusk."_

Hera let out a sigh of defeat. It had been some time since she and Kanan had checked in their contacts dirt-side. Perhaps today wouldn't be a total loss."Just make sure to bring _all_ the supplies back with you." Her voice edged on scolding as she rubbed her gloved hand on her forehead, smearing a streak of grease on her green cheeks.

_"__Will do, Specter 2._" Kanan replied, signing off. Hera replaced her communicator and turned back to the two youngest Spectres. "Well- it looks like we'll have to get the work done ourselves." They'd completed all the tasks she'd set them, but there was always more to do on board a large freighter like the Ghost.

Ezra shot Sabine a look, and Hera caught on to the awkward arch of his eyebrow.

"Hera." Sabine began formally. "We've completed _our_ chores. If we're off duty, and Kanan and Zeb have taken leave- may I please have some time to work on a project of mine?"

"A _project_?" Hera repeated, sceptical. She rested a hand on one hip. Sabine nodded, and smiled. "Well- I suppose Ezra and I-"

"Actually I need Ezra's help."

"Oh really?" Hera's thin eyebrow shot up wantonly. This was a new development.

Both the kids nodded, their faces wiped clean of anything that might be construed as expression or a hint that might give away what they were planning.

Hera wasn't fooled, but- even she had admit, they were still young, and they deserved to have _some_ secrets and projects for themselves.

Hera let her shoulders drop with a heavy sigh. "Oh, alright. I suppose you can both have the afternoon off- since Kanan and Zeb have decided to sit this one out." She said a little bitterly. "Alright- go. But _behave_," she added, leaning heavily on her tone and shooting each of them a pointed look. "And be back by dusk. Understood?"

Sabine nodded, and Ezra saluted with a worryingly bright grin. They turned and quickly made their escape before Hera could change her mind.

Those two, she thought with a shake of her head. Chopper appeared and let out a string of beeps- predictably complaining all the works was left to him- once _again_.

"Oh, stop your complaining." Hera scowled him, giving him a playful knock on the dome. "You can have the day off as well- once you finish that recalibration." Chopper howled. _How unfair_.

* * *

Ezra and Sabine were returning to the Ghost, after a stolen handful of hours painting the hijacked TIE.

Ezra had shown it to Sabine only a few weeks before, but today was the only the second chance they'd had to spirit away and really get stuck into the project. It wasn't quite finished- but Sabine felt confident it was some of her best work to date.

The wings were now a bright solid eye catching orange, and Sabine had painstakingly stenciled her favored dejarik pattern along the axles. Ezra had helped whitewash the Imperial markers and added a few flavourful touches of his own. They'd argued about exactly where Starbird would be painted- Ezra thought it should have gone on the wings, but Sabine had insisted it belonged on the belly of the Tie, so that everyone it passed overhead would clearly see the bright symbol. Ezra had griped and moaned, but eventually relented to her artistic vision.

"Zeb won't be happy you used so much orange." Ezra told her loudly over the jump speeder engine. He was balanced on the back of her speeder, his back pressed to Sabine's and holding on tightly to the very edges of the seat. It wasn't a bike built for two after all. "He can't even stand my flightsuit- and he barely stands Hera's. You should hear him complaining."  
His legs dangled out behind them and Ezra had to keep reminding himself to keep his feet tucked under him so the boots wouldn't scrape through the grass.

Sabine pushed the accelerator forward, and Ezra felt her shrug her shoulders against his.

"Then you shouldn't have told me I could paint whatever I liked. If Zeb has a problem with it, he can come to me." She answered sweetly. "Not much he can do about it- since the top coats been applied."

"When are we going to tell Zeb anyway?" Ezra asked, "When I said we should surprise him- I was hoping you'd paint a silly picture of his face or something equally humiliating."

"Would you have preferred I painted a likeness of you instead?"

"No!" Ezra answered quickly, wincing as he thought about the embarrassing caricature he saw each night before he went to sleep. He would never make the mistake of asking to be Sabine's inspiration again. "No- I would not."

The dark skyline was dotted with stars now and Ezra fidgeted in his seat, knowing they shouldn't have left it so late to rush back. Hera would certainly want to know where they'd been.  
The TIE had been further out then they'd thought, and hauling the paint and primers had weighed them down on the poor over loaded jump speeder.

But at least Ezra hadn't had to _run_ back this time.

"Uh-Oh." Sabine said.

Ezra leaned around her shoulder to see ahead. "What's uh- Oh."

The Ghost was waiting for them just as they'd left it, the cargo hatch out flat and three tall figures and one squat droid were standing in the light. From a distance, Ezra could see all three humanoids were standing with they arms folded and their weight one one foot. It was the posture of someone who'd standing in one spot, waiting for along period of time. It was the posture of someone who was not exactly happy_. Busted. _

He felt a twist of guilt. "I say you make a hard left and we keep on going till we hit the next city."

Sabine snorted, and chuckled, but lent into the steering and guided the bike right to the base of the cargo ramp. It came to a smooth stop and Ezra leaned out from behind the Mando girl.

"Uhh- are we late?" he called hesitantly.

"Yes." Kanan answered first, and eyed the kids sternly over his folded arms. Sabine lifted her helmet off. "Why are you late every time you go off with Sabine?" Kanan sighed exasperatedly, and Zeb sniggered, mumbling something that was surely fowl and suggestive under his breath. Ezra pursed his lips, heat spreading up to his ears and made a mental note to put sand in the Lasat's bunk later on.

"Hera said dusk." Sabine answered politely, ignoring the question. She waved a glove at the fading orange sky. "The sun is still visible."

Hera raised a brow and jutted one hip out and balanced her fist on it. "I said _by_ dusk. Not as long as you can chase the sun around Lothal." Her words were admonishing, but her tone was level- almost amused.

"And where've you two been?" Zeb asked, pointedly looking between Sabine and Ezra for an answer, clearly prepared to distrust any answer the kids might give.

Sabine tucked her helmet on the handles of the bike. Ezra shrugged, sensing that they weren't really in any real trouble, this time.  
"Here and there. My tower and back. If I remember correctly, you're the ones who shirked the work today." he added, trying to turn the conversation around. Hoping to distract the Lasat with a verbal jab.

Zeb wasn't fooled though, and he grinned wryly, showing he knew what the kid was trying to do. "Your tower is twelve clicks out- max." He pointed out. "You could'a gone there twice and back and not taken this long."

"We had speeder problems." Ezra lied, and Sabine gave him half a glance out the corner of his eye,. He sensed she was probably miffed he'd laid the blame on her precious jump speeder.

"Really?" Kanan asked, his tone bright, suggesting he didn't believe the lie one bit. One brow was lifted higher than the other, and a tiny smile was hiding in the corners of his mouth. "Well, speaking of which..."

Kanan stepped back to reveal, of all things, a scrappy off-white speeder bike.

"You went to the scrap yards without me!" Ezra shouted, a little outraged. Kanan and Zeb knew he found great enjoyment foraging through poorly guarded wreck yards- and even better, the heavily guarded ones where all the good stuff was still lying around for the taking. The wreck yards were like a free market for the handy and innovative- Ezra thrived in amongst all that unwanted and useful junk. He could earn a week's worth of credits on a lucky day in the yards.

"Hey, it's not our fault you were too busy _canoodling_ to go burrowing through the trash where you belonge!" Zeb chuffed gruffly. He was obviously trying to get under Ezra's skin, but Ezra took no offense. He _used _to belong at the scrap heaps, and he'd still love to spend a day looting through heaps of "garbage" treasure. Ezra saw Sabine shoot Zeb a narrow look over her helmet and smiled knowing the Lasat would pay for his comments later.

Ezra leapt off the back of Sabine's jump speeder. He ran the eight feet up the ramp between them, and skid to a stop beside the wreck.

"It was an impulse decision." Kanan said flippantly and he and Zeb shared an amused glance. He folded his arms and stood back so Ezra could take a proper look.

Ezra did a full lap of the bike, scrutinising the scratched paintwork and the rust holes on the ID plates.

It was clearly Imperial model, and an old one at that, possibly as old as Ezra himself. Likely the work of the Aratech Repulsor Company, he thought, judging by the shape of the nose. Ezra went to his hands and knees, tilted his head down and, yep- that was a ARC insignia stamped into the underbelly.

"What do you think?" Kanan asked casually.

Ezra jumped up, eyeing the worn in leather seat and the crooked basic steering handles. There was a large amount of rusty scratches in the steering vanes, but most of the engine and the control unit looked salvageable at the least. He gave it an experimental kick with is boot, and when it didn't immediately fall apart; he slid into the seat, pressing his heel into the stirrups and testing the give in the suspension. The bike bounced a little, and Ezra gave the ignition triggers a squeeze; predictably, the speeder stayed dead.

"Yep," Ezra said, firmly folding his arms across his chest and nodding in sarcastic affirmation, despite the fact that he was actually itching to get to work on it. He turned to give Kanan a serious nod. "This_was_ defiantly a speeder."

Zeb snorted and Hera slapped him lightly on the arm, quieting him with a look.

"Under the rust maybe." Sabine added, one arm wrapped around her waist and her chin in her hand, grinning. Chopper let out a string of bleeps, suggesting he agreed.

Kanan cocked a brow at her and she smiled. "Yes, well. We can clean most of it." he said quickly.

"You'll need an ARC key wrench to take this engine apart, actually, I might have one somewhere." Ezra continued absently, eyeing the control panel. All the circuit panels were in surprisingly good condition for a wreck yard pick. "The battery core is probably worth a handful. We could get at least a tanks worth of fuel for it if I clean it up first. Not the worst pick in the yard, Kanan." Ezra admitted, respectfully. Not everyone had the eye for the yards.  
"I'll need a day to cut out the good stuff and- Oh! JB-37's!" he exclaimed, running a hand over the blaster barrel at his knees. "They'll fetch a pretty price. There's always a market for BlasTech."

"Well," Kanan said slowly, exchanging a glance Hera who smiled. "We were thinking it could be put to better use than spare parts for half a stop's worth of fuel."

Ezra cocked his head, "Like what? You want to sell it whole?" Ezra eyed the rusted thin exhaust vents at the back and grinned wryly. "It might be worth more in pieces."

Chopper lifted his repair arms up and twisted his top, bwaping along in agreement.

Kanan shrugged and lay a hand on the belly of the speeder, "Then we better fix it up."

Ezra was confused and tilted his head. Kanan and Sabine already had speeders, and Zeb always insisted a speeder would just slow him down. Hera rarely left the Ghost, and Chopper certainly didn't need- or deserve, one. He turned in his seat to look his master in the eye. "For what?"

"Get a lot of sun today, did ya kid?" Zeb asked, earning another slap on the arm from Hera and a giggle from Sabine.

Ezra shot a look between them, finally catching that there was something he wasn't privy to going on. Sabine just shrugged, Zeb snorted, and Hera gave him a wide smile. Something was definitely afoot.

Ezra huffed, and leaned against the steering handles, pouting in faux irritation. "Wanna let _me_ in on the joke?" he asked, arching his eyebrow at Kanan.

Kanan smiled wryly, and gestured Sabine's jump speeder behind them. "Well, an extra cargo hauler is always welcome. And you said you hated riding shotgun all the time, so..."

Ezra shot up straight in his seat and his hands tightened on the dead steering. "Wait. Is.. is this.. for me? Is it _mine_?" his voice was tight, unwilling to say it out loud and be terribly wrong.

But as much as he'd feared to be wrong, the smile that broadened across Kanan's face told him he hadn't needed to be.

"Really?" He asked again, grinning madly and checking the rest of the crew's smiling faces for assurance. He'd had speeders before, boosted or found in the wreck yards. But he'd always trashed them for parts. He was always lifting bikes if he could get away with it, especially Imperial ones.  
It wasn't the speeder that put the tightness in his chest anyway. He didn't get _gifts_ everyday.

"I..." The words got stuck in his throat for a moment, and he had to swallow hard on the lump in his chest, and try again. "Thanks." he said simply and tried not to look directly into any _one_ crew members eyes for more than a millisecond.

There was one solid beat and Ezra could feel everyone's smiles on him, his belly tightening and a hot sensation bubbling in his chest. He hoped the the attention wouldn't last too long and a flush filled his cheeks and began to work its way up into his ears.

Luckily, Sabine cut the moment short before he could worry it over any more.  
"And I happen to have all my paint right here!" Sabine said loudly, pulling out a cannister of primer. She loaded up the nozzle and shook the barrel.

"Hey- let me clean it before you start colour scheming." Ezra said, quickly, shooting her a thankful glance. His smile quickly became a smirk. "But, I hear red adds a kick to your mileage."

"Nothing too flashy." Kanan warned. "Something that will blend in."

"Green is subtle." Hera put in innocently.

Ezra groaned, slumping against the steering in an almost comical fashion. "I finally get a ride of my own, and I gotta paint it like a burn out?"

Zeb snorted. "it _is_ a burn out, kid. Same as you." Chopper chortled, coming forward to circle the downed bike.

"Well, It won't be for long." Ezra shot back, crossing his arms as his grin reappeared.

Chopper reached out a tentative repair arm towards the bike's control unit, which was swiftly kicked away by Ezra's boot. "Claws off, boltbucket! The screws are already falling out- they don't need your help."

Chopper slapped Ezra's foot away with an indignant series of beeps, before turning away and vanishing into the ship, still waving his arms in outrage.

Sabine made her way around to the nose, pinching her chin in thought.  
"How about Orange?"

"Sure, Orange is cool." Ezra replied, but his focus was back on the bike. He leaned into the seat, testing the steering with more respect this time. He lined up his vision with the nose, imagining the back of an unsuspecting Trooper at the sharp end of his speeder and grinned darkly. "What about stripes? I can't wait to barrel buckets down in the streets."

"This bike will be your responsibility, Ezra. Fuel, maintenance, and keeping a _low_ profile." Hera cut in firmly, though Ezra noticed she didn't say he _couldn't_ use it to knock Troopers down- only that he should be smart about it.

Ezra lifted two fingers, pointed in the air and lay his other hand palm flat over his heart. He straighetned his face, and in his most overly _sincere_ voice he said: "I promise, I will use this speeder only to be _responsible_ pain the the Empire's side."

Zeb and Sabine chuckled and Hera simply smiled and shook her head, lekku swinging.

Kanan tried to straighten his expression into something more serious, but Ezra could see his eyes were still crinkled in the corners.  
"I imagine you'll have to source some pieces next time we blow through the market or the scrap yards. And it will need cleaning-"

"I'm going to tear this apart and built it better then any ARC belt hand ever could! You wait- I'll have it purring in no time!" Ezra had already pulled his favored multi tool off his belt and was starting to twist out the bolts on the panel under the console.

"Wait- before you start to pull it to bits-" Hera started and Ezra shot up straight in his seat, she smiled. "Wash up and come have something to eat. You've both been gone all afternoon, it's time to eat."

Ezra was stricken. "But- My speeder!" he said, gesturing with his arms like she might have missed it. "The sooner I have it up and running, the better!"

Zeb snorted and waved a dismissing hand at the boy and he turned to follow Hera inside. "It'll still look like a wreck when you're through with it."

Ezra stood bolt up in the speeder stirrups, and the speeder wobbled. "Hey- You're just jealous of my hot new ride."

"_Hot new ride?!_" Zeb roared, halfway between outrage and amusement. "Kid, I yanked it out of a muck pile and the steering bar came loose. There's still _grease_ on the mudflaps!"

"She'll clean up." Ezra said, unfazed, patting a hand along the body of the speeder as he slid out of the seat. "You won't recognise it once I'm through."

"And even less when I've had a go. I can make anything beautiful. Do you doubt my skill?" Sabine asked airily, beating Hera and the Lasat to the ladder. They disappeared, voices echoing down the hatchway.

Ezra reached out to follow, his hand on the centre rung, when he stopped and turned back. He only half turned to face Kanan, smiling shyly.

"Thanks Kanan. I... I appreciate it. I promise I'll take care of it."

Kanan returned the smile, "You're welcome, kid." And before the boy could protest, Kanan pushed off his back foot, reaching out and ruffled the boy's dark hair.

"Hey!"

"And I _know_ you will, or I'll have you on sanitation duty for a month. Maybe now you'll on time for once." His hand closed on the back of the boy's jumpsuit, and Ezra gave an indignant squawk as he was pulled him away from the ladder.

"Gotta be quicker than that, kid!"  
Kanan grinning, playfully pushed him aside and raced up the rungs before Ezra could shove the hair back out of his eyes.

Kanan boots disappeared up the hatchway, and Ezra watched him leave shaking his head. His chest was tight, and his fingers twitched, and he felt like he might burst any second now. He couldnt wipe the stupid grin off his face.

Ezra put his foot back on the ladder- but not before shooting a glance at the old wrecked speeder laying on one side in the cargo-bay floor.

It was outdated, rusted and suffered from years of neglect. It was easily one of the shoddiest looking speeders he'd come across that was still in one piece, but, it wouldn't stay that way for long. Ezra would show them what a difference a clever pair of hands and a paint job could do.

"Come on, kid!" Zeb's voice filtered down the passageways. "Don't expect me to leave any Jogan jelly for you."

His stomach rumbled at the mention of food. "Stay out of the jelly- or the first thing I run over with my speeder might just be _You_, you Monong!" Ezra bellowed, pushing himself up the ladder.

Hera's reply was sharp and loud. "Language."

Ezra pursed his lips tight in shame, but he couldn't completely wipe the smile away. He still eagerly climbed into the passage, following the voices and laughter that echoed through the ship.

* * *

R&amp;R for Good Karma and more _Space Family_ 3


	14. Basic Vs Binary

AN: This is a shot about Ezra and Chopper- two of the best/worst bros in the galaxy. I can't wait for their episode in season 2 with Hondo.

I wrote this a little while ago, and it was only on a re-viewing of Rebels did I catch Chopper and Ezra share more words then I first realized. The moment in rebel's resolve where Ezra tells Chopper he "misses Kanan too", is really the first time you see them Really communicate- whether he understands the words or just understands Chopper.  
But there are lots of instances of Chopper making a remark and Ezra responding, so its not very clear how much Binary Ezra understands. I imagine he's picked up a fair bit on his travels, but he's no where near as fluent as Sabine and Hera. Zeb probably understands the least because he's asked twice now for someone to translate Chops beeps.

This is set directly after 'Idiots Array' and is a sort of continuation to the previous One shot.

** Basic Vs Binary  
**

* * *

It was quiet, and Ezra was only just now headed for his bed.

After the Lando debacle, the crew had wholeheartedly agreed on much needed rest. It wasn't everyday that ended in an all out blaster battle- only every third or so.  
Kanan, Sabine and Zeb had all headed straight for their bunks. Hera had retreated to the cockpit, piloting a course through a quiet patch of space.  
Ezra had chosen to stay awake. He was still working on the old Imperial speeder Kanan had dragged out of the wreck yard the other week.

It was rusted and it needed a new battery and a fresh set of brake-cables. But it still had all its original engine parts. All it needed was to be pulled apart, cleaned and put back together again. Sabine was looking forward to giving it a final coat of paint, and Ezra hadn't been able to stop her from pre-eptivly applying the first layer. She'd chosen dark, and at his request- thick orange stripes that ran up the nose and along the back, where she'd also added two bright starbirds .

Ezra had to admit, the whole logo thing was really starting to appeal to him. It made their efforts feel more certified. Like their cause was bigger then they were, that maybe there really was hope for the galexy. _A new hope,_ a familiar voices added at the back of his mind, _A new beginning_. Like a starbird rising from the ashes like in the old stories. It was almost poetic, if you bought into all that _artistic message_ sort of stuff.

He'd worked till he couldn't fight the jaw breaking yawns and finally put down the tools, and headed for his bunk.  
He hoped Zeb was too deep in sleep to notice Ezra climbing up top, waking the Lasat was almost never as good an idea as it sounded. He was lucky Zeb could sleep through blaster fire.

Chopper appeared around the corner ahead of him and Ezra felt his mouth twitch, but he resisted the urge. Yanking Chop's chain before you went to sleep was like playing with exposed battery coils- you were probably going to get fried.

Ezra eyed the droid warily as they passed each other in the corridor, but for once, Chopper continued past without so much as a beep. Ezra stopped as the droid drew level with him, eyeing the astromech as he moved crookedly down the corridor. There was a very faint sound, a weird click click click...

"Shouldn't you be charging?" he asked briskly.

The mech spun his dome and narrowed his octoscope at the boy- and then continued on his way. And there it was again. Click-click-click-click... Ezra's tilted his head, and now he was certain the noise was coming from the astromech. Chop had certainly never made that noise before. Was something... _wrong_ with the little droid?

Ezra blinked owlishly. "Chop, are you broken?" he asked bluntly.

The response was a frightening amount of angry beeps and Ezra had to jump to avoid the elctro prod Chopper had threateningly had shot out, aimed for his kneecap.

"I didn't mean nothing by it, you rust bucket!" Ezra snapped loudly, but mindful not to disturb the rest of the ship.

Chopper took another swipe at his leg, but this time Ezra overbalanced and went down onto his backside. He was exposed, and the mech knew it. Ezra mentally prepared for electrocution, cursing himself for his curiosity, knowing there was no time to roll away.

The mech lifted an arm and tried to push forward- only his right motorised tread seemed to jam. The droid buzzed unhappily, pushing forward- the motion put the droid into a spin. There was that click-click-click again.

Ezra sat up, surprised he wasn't electrified and cocked his head at the spinning mech.

"Are you... stuck?" he asked cautiously, still prepared to make a dash to a safe distance.

Chopper stopped burning his treads and straightened up, turning his top and fixing the boy with an angry red scope.

Ezra quickly put up his hands. "I was just asking." he said quickly. "Really."

Chopper let out a string of angry bleeps and whistles- and Ezra rolled his eyes He could swear Chop had said it was none of his business. Ezra could understand. He didn't like people nit-picking into his privet life either.

"I know it's none of my business," he said slowly, sitting up on his knees and coming eye- to scope with the droid and cocking an ear for the sound. He could only just hear it. A repetitive ticking- like someone had planted a chronocounter inside the droid. "It sounds like there's something in there." he said, lifting a hand and giving the chassis a tentative knock with his knuckles, listing for the echo of empty space. He could hear the whirl of machinery that was usually quiet, something was straining and rubbing against something it shouldn't. Ezra was certain the droid hadn't been hot by any stray fire during the frey, but he had forced that fuel canister up the ramp, hadn't he? And that had surely been hard on the droid's mech. He wasn't exactly built for heavy lifting.

"I think you busted a coil, Chop." Ezra said decidedly.

droid shot backwards, doing more of a ninety degree turn then a straight line. Chopper let out a string of fast and irritated sounds, most of which went straight over Ezra's head as he tried to move away from the boy.

Ezra climbed to his feet, laying out two hands. "Whoa Chop. Slow down. You're gunna burn out your treads at this rate, and we don't have the credit to take you to a droid shop. We barely have enough to stay afloat."

The droid stilled and narrowed and widened his red scope in time with his furious bleeps. His tone was familiar, and Ezra imagined that Chop had demanded the obvious acidic question: _then what am I supposed to do now?_

Ezra took a breath in for courage, and shrugged. "Well... I could try and fix it?"

Chopper's octoscop fixed on him for a long quiet moment, scrutinised the kid up and down; before one repair arm flapped dismissively followed by a series of grumbling beeps.

"hey! I know my basics. I bet I can fix whatever it is." Ezra said, following the mech, now intrigued despite the fatigue weighing at his eyes. He'd wanted to get a good look inside Chopper's circuits for a while now, but the droid would never have gone for it.

The droid continued to ignore him, wonkily heading for the passenger deck. Ezra trailed behind at a safe distance.

"Come on, Chop. Hera let's me work on the Ghost, and we're still airborne aren't we?"

Choppers answer was a short dismissive chuff, and Ezra rolled his eyes. He knew Chopper and the _Ghost_ got along as well as he and Zeb did- which was saying something.  
But he could use this.

"The _Ghost_ flying smooth, and you can't even roll straight. Who's to say the Ghost will listen to you now?"

Chopper came to an immediate stop and buzzed unhappily in place.

Ezra moved past casually, heading for the cargo hold and throwing his last jab over his shoulder. "You want to be burning circles into the _Ghost's _floor that's fine with me, but Hera needs you to be fully operational. So it's up to you, bolt bucket."

Ezra stopped in the doorway and glanced back to see if his low blow had had the effect he wanted. Hera was probably the only organic Chopper would follow with the least amount of argument. Ezra would even go as far to say Chopper maybe, possibly, almost, _cared_ about her somewhere in his faulty programming.

The orange mech as still locked in place, but his side panels were closed- usually a sign of temporary complacency in the droid.

Chopper studied the boy with hard scrutiny. The kid was well known for pranks, and the occasional petty theft every now and then- but even Chopper had to admit; the boy knew how to work his way around circuity like a pro. For an _organic_, anyway. And the _Ghost,_ while rude and certainly not Choppers favourite starship- did fly a little smoother now there was a member of the crew who knew the difference between a resistor, and a voltage divider. Someone with small, mechanically inclined hands. Chopper had watched Ezra work before, and while he knew the boy was distractible- he often never started a project without finishing it.

And, there _was_ something wrong, and no circuity diagnostics he'd run had some up with any answers. The issue was internal, and it was making the right tread motor malfunction.

Chopper may be rusty, and made of spare parts- but he _did not_ malfunction.  
But maintenance meant he would be shut down, and Chopper was certainly unwilling to let the kid play around with his circuits unsupervised.

The boy was still waiting for an answer, and Chopper scanned his body for hidden tools and the neutral expression on his face. Nothing in his logic chips found fault in the boys argument, but Chopper ran it for a fourth time, just to be sure.

Ezra sighed, had the droid really no faith in him? "Come on, Chop. I won't even turn you off-line. I promise." and he held up both hands, to show he meant it.

Chopper narrowed his scope and hummed in place.  
The probability of giving the boy access to his chassis ending in further malfunction or being turned off-line was still unpleasantly high, regardless of any organic 'promises'- but not so high that the maths outweighed the certainty of malfunction _now._

_I'm going to regret this_, Chopper thought, and his logic chip did not disagree.

Things were quiet.

Hera leant back in her seat, taking a deep breath through her nose and out her mouth in a long contented sigh.

Peace was rare on board the _Ghost_. Whether the ship was under attack from Imps, dredging cargo from end to end of the galaxy, or simply the cage in which the crew ruptured into an endless supply of arguments. So Hera enjoyed the quiet when she could.

She was about to turn in, having set a peaceful course in a quiet spot of the galaxy and heaving a jaw splitting yawn.

She got to her feet, and gave the dash of her cockpit a reverential stroke before drawing away her hand and heading for her bunk. Chopper might not get along with the internal programming of the _Ghost_, but Hera knew there was as much soul inside her ship as there was in her Droid. In fact, one might argue there was a little _too_ much spirit inside that droid...

Speaking of which- he was not plugged in at his charging station. The notch in the wall was empty. Hera had thought all her crew were at rest, why else would it be so quiet? She turned towards the cargo hold and cocked an ear down the ladder.

There was a clink of machinery being tweaked and tools being picked up of the ground.  
And she got closer, Ezra's voice floated up from the hold.

"-and then I learnt how to rewire power cells from a Sullustan engineer."

_Knowing the basics of power circuitry configuration does not meet the qualifications of a mechanic._

"Hey don't take that tone with me. I'm not the one that sold you to that smeckfeeder. I'm helping you out."  
_  
Help and hinder are often the same when it comes to you._

Hera approached quietly, focusing on listening to the two, and couldn't help her smile. Chopper's language was often lost on most of the crew. Only Sabine seemed to hear the binary as clearly as Hera did, and she suspected Kanan and Zeb often read into the tone of the astomech's beeps rather than the words themselves. She knew Ezra still didn't understand the droid's lingo, but he seemed to be picking it up quickly in the last few weeks. She was glad to see they two had found a way to communicate other than violence.

She came to a stop just outside the cargo door, resting her shoulder against the frame. Hera was startled to see Chopper tilted on his side, propped up with a trolley jack. His chassis opened at the seams. Exposing his wiring and the side arm pistols and the hydraulics that controlled his joints. She could only see the back of Ezra, squat on his knees and his head almost buried in the Astromech's chassis. It looks like he was trying to pull something out, and that would have usually set alarm bells off- but Chopper didn't seem to be concerned. He was, if she dared think it, _relaxed_.

_This would not have happened if I was given a weapon upgrade._

Ezra grunted as he yanked hard on something with a grunt of effort, and reached for the multi-tool beside him. "For the last time, I'm _not_ giving you _a blaster function."_

The arstomech's response was sharp and quick, and Hera heard a defiant string of binary that said: _Why not?_ You _have one__**.**_**  
**  
"Because you'd shoot me the moment I did. That's why you evil little unit." Ezra shot back, but there was no poison in his tone.

Chopper made the buzzing chuffing sound he did when he thought something was hilarious.

"Well don't talk to _me_ about it! I didn't build you- I'd never have given you the damn electro prod in the first place. And you'd have a lot more storage space in you, I can promise you that."  
_  
I have the exact limitations for storage as my specifications requires. I am_ not _a courier Droid!_

"Think about it." Ezra said carrying on, not catching on to Chopper's side of the conversation. "We need to deliver a parcel to a contact, and none of us can do it- we'll be recognised."

_An internal scan would_\- Chopper began.

"Of course they'll scan you." Ezra interrupted. "But that's why I'd line the outer panel and disguise the compartment inside a hollow in your mainframe unit. The scans would only pick up the negative space and assume you just had an older, bulkier, internal unit. You're made of spare parts as it is."

_Beep!_

"I bet Sabine could even paint up the serial number."

Hera raised an tattooed eyebrow. They'd come up with more far-fetched plans than that before, the biggest problem was that it would require Choppers _willing_ participation.  
_  
You want to disguise me as an older and much_ slower _droid model._ Chopper replied in a string of slow dull beeps. His words were annoyed- but there was something in the third beep that had Hera suspect he wasn't as opposed to the idea as he pretended he was.

Ezra yanked hard on something deep inside Chopper's casing and suddenly flew backwards, landing hard on his rear. "Got it!" he said triumphantly and held up a small burnt out gear plate. It was warped and missing several teeth. Hera wondered how long that had been inside the droid, not long surely, or she would have noticed.

Choppers scope turned to inspected the piece in Ezra's hands- Then he opened his side panels and threw his mechanical repair arms up in the air in alarm and _howled. _

"Whoa! Shut it down! It's fine, Chop. You don't need this right now anyway." Ezra said loudly over Chopper's wailing. He threw the gear over his shoulder with a careless shrug.

Chopper's repair arms reached and his octoscope followed the gear as it sailed through the air. It landed across the room with a metallic ping, and scattered across the floor. Before it fell down a space in the floor grates. Gone, forever.

Chopper turned his attention to the boy and held out his claw grips like he wanted to strangle the kid. Judging but the string of expletives he began to chant in binary, and the sound of failing pistons, he was trying to do just that.

"Ugh- trust me droid." Ezra growled, picking up his tools again and kneeling over the mech. "I'm going to reconnect the pressure regulator-okay?" Chopper dimmed the volume of his protests by half, as while Ezra got to work reconnecting wires.

_You aren't a mechanic! You are a safe cracker! You don't know what __you're_ _doing!_

But after a moment Chopper's protesting string of arguments petered out as the boy worked on without reply.

They settled into silence. Chopper buzzed quietly as Ezra worked on, tinkering with the internal circuits. He occasionally swapped out his tools or another, humming in thought as he worked.

Chopper turned his top, and focused his octoscop on the boy as he worked on the inner mechanics of his chassis. It was... nice, that Ezra didn't feel the need to shut him down while he worked on him like most humans did. Being turned off line was _truly_ Choppers most unpleasant experience.  
This experience was more related to the lifeforms visiting medics for examinations for their health.

"What?" Ezra demanded wryly, catching Chopper's eye.  
His gloves slipped on the greasy wires and he slid his hand into a sharp corner of Chopper's power unit "Frack! Ugh- why are you so filthy in here? You stay on the ship most of the time!"

Chopper lifted his repair arms and made a shrugging gesture. _Because the humans on the ship are inconsiderate of my needs._

"Hera needs to clean you out more." Ezra muttered, returning to the wires. "Why does she make _me_ take so many baths and ignore yours, huh? You've got more rust than my tower."

_Don't tell me! Tell Hera and Kanan! It's been at least forty-eight days, four hours, thirteen minutes, and sixteen seconds since my last lubrication bath!_ Chopper waved an arm dramatically.

"Not that your counting though, hey?" Ezra added with a distracted smile. "Will you stop moving? I've almost got it, but I'll unplug something important if you don't stop wriggling!"  
Chopper hummed unhappily but stopped moving around- for the most part.

Hera saw Ezra's brows pulled together in concentration and then there was a click as something inside the mech slid into place.

"There!" Ezra said with a satisfied sound and shut Chopper's compartment door with aplomb. "Ok now, try it."

Chopper straightened up. Rising off the jack, and rotating back onto his treds. He rolled backwards a little, turning his body and a full 360. He rolled forwards again and let out a surprised chirp of noise.

_I am functional!_

"See," Ezra lent back on one foot and folded his arm, grinning. "I told you you didn't need that gear for now. You can still use the pressure system to rotate the lifting mechs." Ezra began sliding his tools back into his backpack, rubbing at his neck and yawning.  
Chopper buzzed in reply and tried it out- and sure enough, his left and right treads rose and spun on command. It required more use of his power unit, but that was preferable to malfunction.

"I'll scrounge you a new tooth gear next time we hit up a scrap yard." Ezra said with a shrug. "Till then, I suggest sticking to inside jobs. And next time don't break gears pushing fuel tanks bigger than you. Leave the heavy lifting to Zeb. It's what he's here for right?"

Chopper chortled happily and buzzed. _You've done something right for once_.

Ezra either ignored the remark, or didn't understand it.  
"Hey, if you're good, maybe I'll find you a new set of pressure valves. Yours are way dated- how _old_ are you anyway?"

Chopper turned his head and made a waving gesture. _That is not important._

Ezra just shook his head. "Well, anyway, you're _welcome_." he said, giving Chopper a pointed look.

The astromech hesitated, and then slowly withdrew his arms. He turned his octoscop to the side, avoiding Ezra's eye, and made two quiet beeps.

..._Thank-you_

"Remember that, next time you try to decide who to harass first thing in the morning- me or Zeb." he smiled and pulled the backpack over his shoulders, eyes glinting. Chopper hummed and then beeped in acceptance.

"Chopper," Hera said loudly, stepping out onto the cargohold platform. Both the boy and the droid looked up startled, and immediately both managed to look sheepish having been caught, having a _discussion_ of all things. She smiled. "You're looking good."

The astromech came forwards and did a 360, spinning his head and chirping away in true showboat form. "Okay- Okay, you're not looking _that_ good." Hera said rolling her eyes. She lifted them to Ezra's and smiled. "Have you been fixing the devil?"

Ezra looked surprised, maybe worried she would be mad he'd been rewiring her droid like he often _threatened _to do, then quickly looked away. "Yeah well- he's more useless the usual if he can't get to a turret when we need it. Ain't that right?" the boy asked, and gave the bot a gentle kick with his boot.

Chopper let the air out of his pressuriser and lowered himself to the floor. _I guess_...

Here smiled down on two of her boys, happy to see them getting along for once. She had long suspected they did- just usually when only they felt like it, and no one else was around to see it.  
No matter what Chopper might say, or do, Hera was certain he was as protective of the boy as he was of any member of the crew.

"Well, it looks like you did a good job." She said, and Ezra lifted his chin with a smile.

"Well someone has to do some work around here." he said, shrugging his backpack onto his shoulder.

Chopper looked around the cargo hold awkwardly, humming in place, feeling annoyed that only a few hours ago he had saved these organics from being blasted by petty crime lords- But the kid pulls one broken gear out and now he was the new star of attention? That wouldn't do. Chopper was _always_ left to do all the work, and he was so rarely given credit!  
Chopper buzzed unhappily, and then swiftly extended his electro prod and shoved it into Ezra's leg.

The boy flinched back, but out of surprise, not electrocution. Chopper looked from his prod, to the boys leg, and back to his prod- it wasn't working! _Another malfunction!_ He made a loud keen of distress- which became anger as Ezra began to laugh.

"Hah! I knew you were going to try that!" Ezra he half shouted, and had to leap away to avoid the claw grips as they reached for him. Ezra put a foot into the ladder rung and boosted himself up to the ramp on Hera's level, safe from Choppers immediate reach.

The boy held out his hand and between two fingers was a single, battered, connector bracket. He grinned down on the droid.  
"Missing something?" he taunted, waving the piece back and forth in the air above Chopper. The astromech focused on the part and then began to vibrate in anger.

Hera let out a groan. Of course, Ezra had ulterior motives for getting inside the droid. They couldn't go one day without a prank, could they?

"Until you learn to appreciate my skills- I won't give this back." Ezra said firmly, throwing the bracket up into the air where Chopper's ocotocope followed its rise and descent- and snatching it back up again. "You wouldn't know it was missing if you hadn't tried to shock me!" Ezra told him flippantly. "It served your right. And after I did you such a good turn, too." The boy feigned hurt- but Chopper's facial scanning programming told him the boys was anything but genuine now.

"Boys." Hera said, warning clear in her voice. She could feel the quiet of the _Ghost_ thinning in the air. The peace was drawing to an end.

"But Hera-" Ezra began, at the same moment as Chopper let out a string of outraged bleeps.

"No, buts!" She commanded and held out her hand to the boy.

Ezra tried to avoid her gaze, but after a moment, he defeatedly placed the connector bracket into her palm. Chopper whistled triumphantly, holding out his repair claws in waiting. But instead Hera pocketed the bracket. Chopper let out a whine of protest.  
"I will have Kanan replace this in the morning." She told the droid firmly, she turned to Ezra. "And You, will help. _Without_ the sabotage this time."

"But-"

_Beep!_

"Enough. Now you've both had a long day. I want You in your bunk- and You at your charging station in the next two minutes."

_Bleeep!_

"Hera, I-"

"_Now_."  
There was no softness in that tone, or that hard flash in her eyes.

Ezra grumbled, but shuffled his backpack straps and began to retreat. Chopper fired up his booster jet and shot up into the air and barrelled through the space Ezra's head occupied. The boy ducked, just in time, and spun around, pointing an accusatory finger at the droid who landed on the ground and looked away, innocently.

But Hera pinched her brows and shook her chin just so- and Ezra quickly shut his mouth.

Hera crossed her arms, watching the two go their separate ways and the hatchways closing behind them.  
"If I hear so much as a dust mote shift for the next eight hours- you will both be cleaning out exhaust vents until the End of the Empire- understood?"

There was a muffled mumble of replies in binary and basic, accepting defeat.  
Peace descended on the _Ghost_ again, and Hera sighed heavily.  
It likely wouldn't last for long, and she would have it no other way.

* * *

**R&amp;R** for Good Karma and More Chopper and Ezra Bonding 3


	15. Amnesia III

**AN**: See. I told you it would happen. You just needed to be patient with me.  
I get the feeling you guys don't want to see any other shorts until the Amnesia arc is done- so while I have stuff, I'll try not to post any of it and focus only on this short until this is finished. Though I'm still working on the Survival Trials.

As always, let me know what you think! Where do you all see this going? Is anyone sick of the Head Trauma trope? Constructive criticism really does help me write. Can something be changed? Worded better? Contradicts the characters? Tell me (:

My eternal thanks to my beta, Unfathomablefandoms 3

**Amnesia III**

* * *

Kanan took one long hard look at his distressed Padawan. The boy really was a mess.  
The bump on his head had gotten larger, and his blue eyes were wide with panic as he seemed to be putting together the recent string of events.

The bandages wrapped around his head and the betrayed twist of his mouth made him a hard sight to see. Ezra had never given Kanan such a cold look- even on his _worst_ days.

_Force- he's never going to trust me again._

"I'm sorry. It's for the best, Ezra." Kanan said, and he meant it. Even if he knew Ezra would never believe him. At least not for now. This was the right thing to do, right? What other choice did Kanan have?

The boy was clearly struggling to stay awake, and losing the battle, but his eyes tightened at the corners in pented rage.

It put a cold burn in Kanan's chest, and he wanted to take it back. Instead he firmed his jaw and reached for the keypad. The boys eyes widened and he half reached a weary hand out.

"Get some rest." he willed, thinking, _not that I've given you much choice._ "I will be back soon."

Kanan keyed the door shut before his resolve could weaken.

The hatch pulled closed with a _click-hiss,_ locking the boy in the dark. Kanan stood for a long moment staring at the closed door.

He could feel Ezra's anger, the betrayal growing cold and faint- and then it evaporated as sleep took him.

Reading his emotions had been- overwhelmingly easy. The anxiety, the anger and the fear.

He was stronger with the Force than he'd ever been during his time on the streets now. And Ezra didn't know, or remember, how to handle the universe clanging to be heard. He was more volitile then ever.  
He clearly didn't remember any of his training- but his innate connection to the Force was as strong as ever. If not more so because the kid was clearly running on adrenalin, reaching out for anything that made him feel safer. Like pointing his lightsaber at his 'kidnappers'. He was volatile, and a danger to himself and possibly the crew.

At least he'd remembered his saber. That was a start. But that was only right, it was _his_ and the Force knew that.  
If only he'd remembered his master along with it.

Kanan let out the ragged sigh building in his chest and rubbed furiously at his temples. The kid didn't trust them. They were back to square one.

He moved away from the door with soft groan and headed for the cockpit.

Kanan had really thought he was getting through whatever it was blocking Ezra's memories during those few moments of meditation. The boy had sunk into his meditative patterns like a breeze, once he'd shut his mouth and stopped lashing out of course. Ezra was almost advertising how insecure he felt, and the Force around him rocked and dipped with his mood. It was all Kanan could do to keep his voice steady. Trying to reassure him, with soft words and familiar patterns.

And it had worked- for a few minutes at least.

All at once Ezra was beside him, sinking his consciousness into the Force and reaching outward like Kanan had taught him. Kanan _felt_ Ezra find Lothal, his heart had glowed and relief and a feeling of _home_ had seeped through them both. It had been a nice moment. If only he felt that way about the _Ghost_.

But then Ezra had found Kanan's presence, and everything had deteriorated. Of course, Ezra didn't know who he was right now- why would being that close, that bonded with someone bring him ease? Ezra had been a tough egg to crack in the beginning, and it was only through a series of eye opening experiences that Kanan had felt them coming together in the first place. Of course he would panic suddenly faced with the universe, the Force and a Master.

The sudden fear Ezra had felt- stemming from Kanan no less- it near broke the Jedi to sense it.

No Padawan should be afraid of their Master or the Force. Fear was a characteristic of the dark side, and Kanan didn't know what he would do if that stemmed from him.

Kanan had tried to calm him again, trying to send waves of warmth and security his way. But the damage was done, and The Ezra had started to panic.

He'd tried to break away from Kanan, and when Kanan wouldn't let him- he'd turned away and reached out to the dark side. A reaction that put true fear in his heart.

As soon as the ice began to form around the bond, Kanan snapped back to his body and shook Ezra awake.

Even once the boy had opened his eyes and regained consciousness, the furious pounding in Kanan's chest wouldn't cease. Force- this kid was going to be the death of him, no doubt.

Kanan shook himself, trying to shake away the cold shivers running down his arms. He wouldn't lose Ezra to the dark side, not because of some childhood trust issues and an awful accident. Speaking of which.

Kanan arrived at the doorway to the cockpit, but the atmosphere was silent and heavy. The crew were all seated, silent and clearly worried. Hera turned at the sound of him, her eyes serious and her mouth set.

"We need to find a medic." Kanan commanded, striding into the cockpit, and surprising Sabine and Zeb who both unfolded their arms.  
He ignored their longing looks and unasked questions and collapsed into the seat beside Hera.

She nodded to the ship controls, indicating they were already set on course. "I've already contacted Fulcrum." She said shortly. "She's sent us coordinates to a friendly."

"A doctor?" Kanan demanded.

She winced, and her expression turned pained. "A vet."

Kanan's brows pinched together and he was suddenly furious. "He needs a proper care, Hera! He needs a Bacta tank- or a surgeon or-"

"Do you think I can't see that?" Hera shot back, turning to face the him with a walled up look in her eyes. "It was a vet now, or not at all. We can't exactly walk him into an Imperial medic station. I'll take what I can get right now, Kanan."

Kanan instantly withdrew and turned away, swinging his chair to face the Sabine and Zeb who both turned their eyes away.

"We're not going to just make do with a vet." Hera continued in a softer voice. "We'll still find a medic. We'll kidnap one if we have too. We won't let him suffer."

The pressure in his head was starting to build up again, and now that Ezra was no longer in front of him wielding a blaster, Kanan couldn't stave it off. He scrubbed at his eyes, letting out a pained groan. "I know. I know." he turned back to her, and his eyes stung for some reason. _I must be tired,_ he thought. "This- this is my fault."

"Kanan," Hera was at his side, laying a gentle hand on his arm and another on his knee. "This is no ones' fault."

"He shouldn't have gotten hurt. He shouldn't have been put in that position. I shouldn't have let him go alone!"

Hera silenced him with a gentle squeeze of his bicep and Kanan felt the words die off. He knew she knew. But, she also didn't. They'd come so close to losing Ezra today, twice. And now the best help they could offer him was a vet?

Kanan met her eyes evenly, "Hera-"

"I know." she said, cutting him off. She sank back into the pilot seat, gripping the yoke firmly, though the Ghost was truly set on a course through hyperspace

Kanan shot a sharp stream of air through his nose, grinding his teeth. It was too quiet in here, the air was too still. Already Ezra's absence could be felt, permeating the air like the fresher after Sabine's delicious- yet smell-inducing, stew.  
"Where's Chopper?" Kanan demanded hotly.

"Damage report." Hera replied coolly, apparently ignoring his tone. "Scanning the ship for anything we've missed."

"Anything to worry about?"

"The shield generator is fritzing. Chop's fixing the static jammers. And we've burned through more fuel than we can fill. But, we'll make it to our destination without any hiccups. I'll focus on the the smaller things when we've gotten Ezra somewhere safe."

It was only now Kanan saw the tightness around the Twi'lek woman's eyes, the crooked purse of her mouth. Her lekku sat high, tense and twitching each time she blinked.

She was worried, of course she was. She loved her precious ship, from the rust eaten bolts, to the dusty filters, and the atomos burned wings; she loved her ship.  
But Ezra came first.

Kanan internally burned, but pushed the self contempt away. He could berate himself for his childish behaviour later. For now, his crew, and Hera, needed him.

Kanan relieved the pressure on his jaw and unlocked his muscles, reaching for Hera, and squeezing her arm gently.

She turned to him, eyes tight, and he offered her a thin apologetic smile. She understood at once, and he felt the tension leave her a little before he drew back him arm.

The cockpit was silent for a long beat.

Finally, Kanan drew himself back up, lifted his chin off his chest, and turned to face Spectres Four and Five.

"What happened?" he demanded.

His tone was blameless, but they both still averted their eyes, and fists tightening in their laps.

"I, uhh- the Kid.." Zeb failed to pick the right words and grimaced, waving his empty hands helplessly.

Sabine came to her feet suddenly, standing to attention, resolved. "It was our fault. Zeb and I shouldn't have let him separate from us."

Hera pursed his lips and Kanan pulled back his shoulders, "Explain."

Sabine did.

* * *

Their Intel had been wrong.

Spectres 1, 2 and 3 were in the air, keeping the Tie Fighter squads busy as a distraction, while Spectres 4, 5 and 6 were on the ground, retrieving the data from the data vaults in the basement levels of a security centre.

They'd been dropped in two miles off sight, and moved in on foot. Their aim was to break into the locked down security centre in the dead of night, while Hera and Kanan would draw all the close Imperial eyes skyward, making it look like the crew hadn't touched ground yet.

The plan went off without a hitch, until they made it into the basement levels and encountered the vault door.

It was a model neither Ezra or Sabine had ever seen before, monitored and powered by three separate generators. Cutting the power simply wasn't an option. The Imps would be alerted the moment the vault was forced up by any means and the basement levels of a security centre were certainly not somewhere the crew wanted to be caught.  
Sabine tried hacking into the system, but the controls were localised, and there was no easy key system Ezra could move with the Force- which was not helped by Zeb's teasing.

So Ezra had pulled out his tools, hoping maybe there as an engineering fault he could exploit. He studied the hinges, and seams, and finally thought he might have found a loose panel- when he was given a mighty electric shock for his trouble.

Ezra pulled free from the door, his hair fizzling with static and some of it standing on end.  
"No good... its... fired." he said, his teeth humming in his gums. "It's all wired in. Its needs to be unlocked, not hacked."

Sabine pulled him to his feet and shook him straight.

"So we can't get in?" Zeb demanded shortly. He was on edge. He didn't like to be caught in small confined spaces.

"Not unless you want to get fried." Sabine shot back, activating her com.

"Spectre 5 to Spectre 1 and 2- we have a problem. The security levels are way higher here then we expected. Our tools aren't enough to cut it."

"Well find a way around it Spectre 5!" Kanan replied, his words peppered with gunfire.

Sabine groaned and gave Zeb a vexed stare. "Do they even try to form a plan any more?"

Zeb folded his arms, shooting furtive glances down each end of the corridor. "Don't look at me, I'm just as unhappy as you are."

She pulled four fuse charges from her belt. "I guess we're going to be running short on time now. Once these blow, they'll know exactly where to find us. Got that. Ezra- are you even listening?"

Ezra was standing a little ways away, smoothing his hair flat and eyeing up a narrow chute set in the wall. "What? Oh, Yeah- listen, I don't think we need to blow the door."

"I thought your tools weren't enough for this kind of hacking." Zeb huffed.

"They aren't- but that," Ezra continued, pointing to the chute, "is an airflow duct, and I'll bet it will take me straight up to the control room up top where I could just turn it off."

Sabine exchanged a wary glance with Zeb who shook his head and snorted roughly, folding his arms across his chest.

"I don't like it. Kanan said to stick together-"

"And I'm sure that will make it nice and easy for the troopers to shoot us all in once place once you blow that door." Ezra replied shortly, pointing at the heavy guarded hatch. "Come on, we do this all the time. I'll be quick as a snipesnake."

"What's a snipesnake?" Zeb demanded, thrown by the change in topic.

"Something faster than you."Ezra shrugged, grinning crookedly at a joke only he found amusing.

"Why you-"

"I'll be faster without having to drag your sorry ends after me." Ezra replied, dodging free of the purple hands and climbed up onto the crates towards the air-duct

"Just make sure to keep your com on and get that door open." Sabine hissed, drawing her blasters.

He pulled the cover off the wall and kicked off the crates, and disappeared into the dark vent with a dismissive salute.

They listened to the the faint shuffles fade away, shifting their feet. Zeb groaned faintly and folded his arm again, clearly uncomfortable.

"This mission is quickly starting to rot."

Sabine sighed heavily, hands on her hips. "You're telling me."

They waited in dim silence for another minute before Zeb began to fidget, growling low in his chest.

"Uuurg- that kid better hurry up. I don't want to be standing around waiting when the troopers come."

Sabine opened her mouth to reply, but the electrified hum behind her let out a fading whine and deactivated. Their coms buzzed.

_"See? Faster __than_ _a __snipesnake__."_

Sabine rolled her eyes and pulled the hacktool out, moving in to make short work of the door- but it let out a hiss and pulled upwards.

_"You're welcome."_

Sabine stood up, putting away her tools. "Just keep an eye on the monitors and com us if there's trouble."

_"Yes, Ma'am."_

Sabine rolled her eyes and set to work.

The security vault lit up slowly, fluorescent filament tubes humming as they came to life.

The walls were filled, floor to ceiling, with thin grey drawers, all containing at least 500 chips each. It would take time to locate the right ones. She jacked into the key panel on the wall, scanning the system for the necessary codes.

Zeb shifted his feet, growling under his breath. "Urrg, can you hurry it up? It's too quiet."

"It might be quiet; if you would stop rushing me." Sabine shot back. Her wrist com flashed. "Ok, found them. Give me two minutes to collect." She found the location of the data-cards, and began replacing them with duds.

She was sliding the last drawer closed and resetting the lock system when their coms crackled.

_"Guys get out, there's..."_ Ezra shouted, his words trailed for a moment, followed by a harshly muttered, _"Oh Karablast."_

"What? What is it?" Sabine demanded, shoving the data cards deep into her belt and drawing her blasters. They broke into a run, not bothering to reset the hatch behind them.

_"Troopers. Like, a lot of them."_ Ezra answered. _"They must have been in the middle levels! They- they aren't coming for you. You have time to get out. Head for the main entrance- not the back way. Go now."_

Zeb changed trajectory without breaking a stride, pulling Sabine around a sharp corner. Something was off in Ezra's voice.

"If we have time what's the problem?" Sabine demanded.

_"You have time-_" his words were broken by a faint metallic pounding.

"What is that?" Sabine demanded, taking the stairs three at a time.

_"Troopers. Outside my door- and- Oh for Force- They've shut down the vent systems!"_

"What! Get out of there!" Zeb commanded.

_"What a good idea!"_ Ezra shot back, his tone acidic. _"I'll just faze through the walls shall I?"_

There was the sound of whirring gears.

"What's the plan?" Sabine demanded, interrupting the Lasat's snarky reply, sensing Ezra was on the move.

_"I'm going topside. There's __an_ _emergency elevator. I'll meet you... Somewhere."_

Zeb grunted in reply as the two reached the main abandoned foyer. It was a clear line of sight all the way to the building across the street.

Sabine reached for her com, forming a plan. She pointed and Zeb nodded without breaking stride, understanding at once .  
_"Head topside. We'll cover you from across the street. Spectre 2, can we call in that pick up early?"_

_"No can do Spectre 5."_ Hera answered, her tone brisk, _"we've got our hands full up here."_

_"Hold out a little longer."_ Kanan commanded. _"We'll - Chopper ! Get the target system back up now!"_

_Bwaaa bwuap!_

Sabine huffed, pushing through the stitch in her side as they crossed the street. Zeb put the butt of his rifle through one of the large windows, setting off the security alarm. Subtly was no longer a priority, but speed was.

They made for the common stairwell, and began taking the steps in bounds and leaps.

Her legs were jelly, but they pushed upwards. As they rounded the fourth floor their coms crackled.

Ezra's voice came through the com channel clear.

_"Guys, any time you want to step in."_  
his words were punctuated with hard gasps of air and the sounds of blaster fire.

"We're almost there." Sabine answered breathless .

_"Well so are the- Ah!"_  
The communication was suddenly cut and static filled the radio silence.

_"Spectre __S__ix?!"_ Hera's voice got through first, followed by a chorus of worried exclamations.

"Kid?"

_"Ezra!?"_

The communication was silent for one long heart wrenching beat before channel flared back to life.

_" -iffen helmet heads!_ _I'm hit! Just a stun, but my leg is frozen. I'm pinned on the rooftop, east corner. Get me out of here guys!_" his voice was threaded with panic but his request was clear.

"Thirty seconds away!" Sabine answered, kicking the stairwell open.

_"Make it ten._" Kanan shot back.

Zeb crashed through the last closed door leading them to the roof, brandishing his Bo-rifle. Sabine shot out behind him and they bolted for the north side of the rooftop.

It was a fire fight. There were at least two dozen Troopers spread out across the rooftop, and still more arriving through the elevator doors. They all had blasters and were shooting down far corner of the rooftop with stun shots, where Sabine could only just see Ezra crouched behind a power unit, deflecting shots with his saber with his arm thrown over his head. The commander put up a hand indicating his battalion to move forward.

Zeb let out a roar.  
"Why don't you pick on someone my size, ya piss buckets!" He began to fire on the troopers, followed by Sabine.

Between the two of them, they took out a handful of troopers before the bucketheads realised they were under attack from behind. Ezra took advantage of the confusion, and fired down three more, before ducking down to avoid another round of stun shots.

_"Nice to have the company!"_ Ezra's voice cut through the blast fire over the comm system. _"Now, get me outta here!"_

Sabine huffed, "We working on it."

"There's another battalion coming up the-" Ezra cut himself off, and a fizzling sound filled the channel.

"Spectre _Six-_"

They saw Ezra suddenly jump up and away from the power unit- half a second before it erupted into smoke and flames from a well placed shot through the circuitry He scrambled, clearly favouring his left leg and rolled out of the line of fire just in time.  
From this angle, Sabine and Zeb had a clear line of sight and saw him reach for the com on his belt and shout into it, but nothing but static reached them.

Sabine shouted into her com. "Kid?

He waved his arms in the air across the rooftops, gesturing his closed fist.

"His com is down." Sabine shouted between shots fired.

"Tell me something I don't know." Zeb grunted, narrowly dodging a blaster shot.

"If we don't get him outta there soon, you're gonna have your room to yourself again."

Zeb sniffed, a hint of smile at the corner of his lips. "As nice a that sounds, Hera won't like it."

_"What's going on down there?"_ Kanan demanded.

A second elevator of Troopers arrived, marching out onto the roof. The kid only had a good six feet of breathing room left, taking out two more between hunkering down.

"We need to get over there." Sabine growled.

"Last I checked neither of us had a pair of wings." Zeb shouted. Sabine activated her com again. What she'd give for a Mandalorian jetpack right now.

"Spectre 1 and 2, you better be close. We're running out of time here."

_"Minutes away Spectre 5,"_ Hera answered, _"Hold out little longer."_

Sabine took down three more with pinpoint shoots to the chest plate- knocking them back from the edge. Zeb took down another pair by launching a duct pipe across the gap and into the trooper's middles.

But there was still another dozen on the roof, all firing down Ezra's position and closing in.  
The boy had minutes- if not seconds till he was grabbed. They were running out of time to wait.

Sabine saw Ezra throw her one short frightened glance, telling her he knew this too. And then his eye line shot over his shoulder behind him to the building edge- he had to duck back down to avoid another blaster shot, and returned three more of his own.

Sabine was still firing and activated her com again. "Spectre 2- we need that pick up- now!"

"While there's still something of us left to collect!" Zeb shouted.

"_On our way, Spectre 5- just hold out another 40 seconds-"_

"The kid doesn't have 40 seconds!" She snapped. "He hasn't got 10-"

"Oh Karablast." Zeb said, but his tone was breathless and his eyes were set across the rooftop. Sabine spun- fearing the worst- and saw it.

Ezra was making a break for it, dodging the laser shots with all the grace of a three-legged malhorn, his left leg was stiff and he was cutting right through the blaster zone and headed straight for the lip of the rooftop.

"He wouldn't." Zeb breathed in full horror.

Ezra did.

He reached the lip, coiled up and sprang with less ease or height than he usually did. He sailed through the air, hands outstretched. The trooper's fire actually ceased for a half second in surprise of the reckless move.

Sabine could already tell his trajectory would carry his too short for a safe landing, and her scanners confirmed it. He began to fall and her heart went with him.

His hand reached out, swimming wildly in the air- and it was by the skin of his teeth he caught the very lip of the twin rooftop by his fingertips. He kicked his boots against the wall, trying to find purchase to launch himself over the rooftop corner. His right foot found grip and he pushed himself up to his elbows. He was going to make it!

At that moment the troopers began to fire again, peppering the wall with a thick spray of stun shots.

"No!" Zeb roared, and opened fire across the roof, taking out three of the closest threats and Sabine took out another two.

But two of the shots hit their mark. The first one hit Ezra in the back of his shoulder,and his right arm gave out underneath him with a shout, leaving him hanging by one hand. Barely half a moment later the second shot hit in square in the ribs- and he lost his grip on the wall.

Sabine cried out in fury, and ran to the edge, shooting down the Trooper who could aim and the ones flanking his side.

"_Kid!_" Zeb shouted, his voice strained

"Ezra!"

_"What's happening down there?"_ Kanan bellowed through the com.

They watched him fall, taking their reath with him. Tumbling, like a rag-doll, only two of his limbs working, he reached for one of the steel beams that ran between the towers. But his grip slipped and the contact sent him spinning upside down, straight for the beam below it. He flailed, sensing what was coming, but unable to do anything about it.

The sound of his skull connecting with the steelum echoed with a sickening _gong._ The sound would have been comical, if it hadn't sent shivers of dread down their spines. The boy immediately went still, and slipped slowly off the edge of the beam. He tumbled limply the last three floors, and landed in the centre of an open disposal bin with a dull metallic clang.

"Go get him!" Sabine cried out, firing down the troopers who were repelling down the building- but the Lasat was already leaping down towards the street level.

Zeb barely felt his knuckles hit the ground, pushing off his feet, and lunging for the alleyway. Half shouting as he ran, nearly breathless.

"Come on kid- please don't be dead. Please don't be dead. I'm gonna kill you if you're dead!"he gulped, trying to suck in the chill air, burning his chest "Then Hera's gonna kill me."

He dodged the landspeeders in the street, and threw himself into the disposal unit's side and looked in, his heart in his mouth.

Ezra was on his back, his head was tossed to one side and there was already a bump starting to swell on the edge of his crown dotted with just a little bit of blood. But at least his neck didn't look broken.

For one long agonised second Zeb just stared, frozen with gut wrenching fear- then the kid let out a strangled sort of gasp and his chest rose up and down.

"Oh for for all the hells." Zeb breathed, and reached in and carefully scooped the unconscious boy up with both arms.

A laser shot bounced off the disposal wall and Zeb turned, bearing his teeth and growled at the troopers lining up along the rooftop. They didn't have another chance to fire though, as the sky roared and the Phantom descended from the clouds, trailed closely by the Ghost- and the cannons lit the rooftop of plastic soldiers up.

Zeb bolted towards the main strip, dodging abandoned land speeders, mindful not to jostle the limp boy in his arms. Sabine appeared at street level, have rappelled down the wall with a grappling hook she retracted into her gauntlet, and began to shoot a stream of cover fire.

The _Ghost_ dropped in low at street level while the _Phantom_ kept the Troopers from regrouping with a constant stream of fire. The freighters back ramp opened up, near scraping the antenna of several speeders. In two swift bounds over a transport tank, Zeb planted his feet firmly on the back ramp, quickly followed by Sabine, shotting down the final Troopers as she backed up the ramp.

"All Spectre's on board!" Sabine shouted down her com. "Lets get out of here!"

_"Just what I was thinking." _Hera said.

Zeb knelt down, trying to untangle the boy's stunned limbs and lay him flat. But he felt awkward and helpless- he was not a nurse.  
Sabine keyed the ramp shut with her wristcom and near ripped her helmet off as she skid to to knees beside them. She threw her helmet into his hands, ripped off her glove and put two fingers to the boy's neck.

After a long pained moment, she turned to Zeb and smiled with relief. "He's alive."

"Not for lack of trying." Zeb groaned back, trying to still his pounding chest.

The _Ghost's_ floors lurched underneath them, and the gravity lifted off them for half a moment, dropping them back onto the floor with a huff.

Sabine pulled her com off her belt and sighed heavily into the mic.  
"Spectre 5 to Spectre 1 and 2- The kids okay. A bit banged up."

"That's an understatement." Zeb huffed, pointing out the lump growing on the kids temple. The flesh had split, and the blood was trickling down his jaw.

_"Do I need to panic?"_ Hera demanded through the com.

The _Ghost _shuddered and swung to one side, as the fighter was manoeuvred between the tailing tie fighters.

Sabine dabbled at the wound on the boys crown with a square of gauze she pulled from her belt, inspecting the gash. Zeb stood back with his gut in knots, unsure how to help.

After a moment she pressed a key on her wrist com. "Concentrate on losing those TIEs Hera. We've got this covered. "

_"Rodger that."_

"Do we?" Zeb demanded. The _Ghost _groaned, and the sound of laser fire rumbled from the front end of the ship.

The Mandalorian girl flashed him a thin smile. "It's only shallow. He'll live."

The boy on the cargo floor suddenly threw his head to one side and let out a mournful little moan and lifted a hand shakily up to his eyes.

Zeb grinned, barely containing his relief  
"You with us kid?"

* * *

"And- then he woke up." Sabine finished lamely, looking to Zeb. Her posture was tense, tightly wound, but her face was rueful.

Zeb shrugged limply, rubbing his the back of his head.  
"We... we let the kid down." He muttered gruffly, rolling his eyes down to the floor and squeezing his fists like he was trying to crush rocks. "Shouldn'ta listened to him and changed the plan. We should've gotten to him before he felt like it had to take a flying leap."

The air in the cockpit grew cold, and very quiet.

Hera stood up slowly, and put a hand on each of their shoulders. She gave Sabine a squeeze, and gently shook Zeb's, pulling both their eyes up.

Hera smiled, very softly. "It wasn't your fault. We'll fix this. He'll be okay."

Together they both nodded, offering weak smiles of their own in thanks.

Kanan sat on the edge of his seat, pressing his elbows into his knees and pressing his hands together under his chin.

He knew Sabine and Zeb we telling the truth, he could feel their penitence.  
But none of this helped explain why Ezra had lost all memory of the last nine months. Almost a year. Was all their work building a bond, building _trust_, for naught?

A weight pressed down on his shoulder, grounding him, and he looked up, into Hera's warm vert eyes. Her forehead furrowed, and she nodded slightly in the direction of his disheartened crew.  
"Isn't that right?" She pressed, prompting him. Ezra was going to be fine.

Would he?

"That's right." Kanan agreed firmly, climbing to his feet and letting only a very slight sigh escape.

Both Sabine and Zeb appeared reassured, even though he suspected they knew his facade was less solid than Hera's.

Chopper appeared in the hatchway, and bleeped loudly, startling the crew. "Bwap! Bwap!"

_A transmission.  
_  
Hera's brows pinched together, wrinkling the space above her nose. "From whom?"

Chopper shook his dome. "_Bwaaaap!"_

"A secure channel?" Sabine repeated, looking to Hera for an answer. "Who else but Fulcrum knows our transmission frequency?"

Hera exchanged a heady look with Kanan, sharing the same thoughts. Both mentally tallying who would be most likely to contact them at a time like this. Was it worth the risk? She pursed her lips, and Kanan inclined his head just so.

Hera's lekku swung as she snapped her eyes back to the droid. "Accept the transmission." she commanded firmly. Chopper bleeped in affirmation and a quiet moment passed. Then, the astromech buzzed, and he activated his holojecter, spraying the cockpit with blue light.

Instead of a figure, the crew saw several repeating lines of data code, blocked together.

"It's not a message, Its ...co-ordinates." Hera said, sounding surprised. Kanan hummed in discontent. This was just more questions.

Sabine leaned forward, nearly putting her nose through the projection, her mouth twisted and her eyes narrowed, and then widened in disbelief. "Its...co ordinates to a medcenter!"

"A proper med-station? Here in this patch of space?" Zeb huffed, and folded his arms tightly. His distrust was clear.

Sabine frowned, reading the data. "It's in the next system. But," she turned to Hera, her voice elated. "We can get there in half the time it will take us to get to the friendly."

The decision hung in the air for only a few seconds. Sabine and Zeb looked to Hera and Kanan, who were frowning into the blocked lines of data.

Finally, they met each others eyes, and as one, nodded. Hera lay her hands back on the yoke of the ship and Kanan swung the chair to face the viewing window. Sabine and Zeb took the hint, and both took their seats.

"Chopper," Hera commanded, "Reset our coordinates."

* * *

**R&amp;R** for the next chapter and author inspiration!


	16. Taming a Lothrat IV

Great news! I'm not dead :D  
Sorry about the break guys, but once I limited myself to the amnesia arc, I completely lost inspiration. I will still work on it, but at my own pace. In the mean time, More rebel family love: Thank you to everyone who reviews, especially those who critic or detail what you enjoyed. Every review really does spur me into writing more and wanting to improve.

A Huge Thank you to Meepicheep and UnfathomableFandoms. Two gals who push me to improve my writing everyday and without whom I would surely never get anything done!

**Taming a Lothrat IV**

* * *

It was just a milk run, as Hera like to call it. A quick stop over for supplies, fuel, rations, and quick fix ups. No exploring, no getting lost in the markets, and certainly no stopping in at the local cantinas.

Kanan had been sent to collect the fuel, Hera and Sabine disappeared into the mechanic pits to source a fuse lock, and Chopper was left to guard the Ghost in the spaceport parking lot.  
Meanwhile, Zeb and Ezra had been assigned with most straight forward of tasks: shopping in the market with clear instructions not to deviate from the list Hera had given them. They groaned and slumped their shoulders, but agreed to do as they were asked.

Kanan returned first pushing two fuel canisters, followed by Hera and Sabine shortly after. Chopper dropped the ramp and the crew began to store their supplies.

"No sign of the boys yet?" Hera asked. The market was closer then the mechanic pits and the ration list hadn't been all that long. Chopper buzzed rudely, rotating his head.

Kanan nudged Chopper with one boot. "Oie, don't use that kind of language." He turned to face the girls and folded his arms, sighing. "No, Not yet. And if they take any longer, they'll both be in for sanitation duty for the next month." No one wanted a repeat of the meiloorun incident.

The Twi'lek pilot smiled, with her hands on her hips and leaned into the Jedi's space. "And will you or I have to be the one to dole out that punishment?"

Kanan shrugged, grinning wryly. "Well, you _are_ the captain. I wouldn't want to overstep my boundaries."

"No, that wouldn't be like _you_ at all."

Chopper whined at the display of affection between the two and flapped his extendo arms, trying to cover his ocular lenses.

Sabine snorted and dumped the toolbox down. "Well they better hurry up. I've got painting to do."

"We're here already! Quit yer' belly aching."

Zeb appeared, alone, at the bottom of the ramp, a crate balanced on each shoulder. "You'd think you couldn't trust us to do our jobs."

Kanan stood up straight and eyed the space behind Zeb. "Where's Ezra?" His tone was flat and a little pessimistic, if only because he suspected he might already know the answer.

Zeb jerk around, looking bewildering behind him and gaped. "Uh…." He turned sharply back around but now looked to Hera. "He was right behind me a few minutes ago, I _swear_!" he assured her quickly, gesturing the empty space behind him.

"You lost the kid again?" Sabine leant a hand on one hip and grinned wryly. "Sounds like we better glue you both together."

Zeb flattened his ears and growled at the idea, "Don't even suggest it!"

Hera's smile had vanished, now she cocked a brow, giving the Lasat an unimpressed look. He was quick to shut his mouth and looked away, busying himself with setting his supplies down. She shook her head with a sigh.

"I'm sure he's not far behind. He usually doesn't vanish for long." She directed her words towards Kanan, her lekku slipping off her shoulders.

But the Jedi's expression was already blackening.  
"Its not the punctuality, all though that _is_ a problem." Kanan shot back, stepping away with a wide swing of his arms. "He can't just _disappear _whenever he likes."

"Ezra knows we're on a schedule."

"He also knows he can't just wander off without a word."

Hera pursed her lips and pointedly turned her back on the man, if he wouldn't discuss this without a temper, she wasn't going to try. Instead she rounded on Zeb  
"What happened?" she demanded, her tone neutral.

Zeb bristled and folded his arms defensibly. "This is not my fault this time. He was up my backside, never shutting up all the way to and from the market. I only got peace and quiet when…." Something passed over the Lasats face and suddenly he looked concerned. He was quick to try and cover the fault, but the crew had already straightened in attention.  
He put the second crate down and took a wide step back down the ramp, his ear twitching as he nonchalantly tried to head back to the market. "I'll uh… I'll just go look around and see if he doesn't pop up, like he does. You know..."

"Zeb." Kanan began, his tone low and his arms folded tight.

"Look, I'm sure the kid is fine and just off causing trouble…." The Lasat was cut off as Ezra dashed around the spaceport gate, bolting towards them, waving his arms. His appearance would have set off the alarm bells in the crew, had he not been smiling maniacally, waving, and shouting in one long sentence as he approached.

"Hey-everyone-Karablast! Look-at-the-time-we-should-really-get-going, don't-you-think? Let's-get-these engines-going-and-get-off-this-dead-end-rock-am-I-right?"

"Ezra…." Hera began.

"_What_ did you do?" Kanan demanded.

Ezra however didn't stop to answer. Instead he leapt over a storage crate in his way. He shot out a hand and latched onto Zeb's elbow, using the momentum to make the tight turn and skid to a stop behind the Lasat, panting to catch his breath.

"Oie!" Zeb shouted, lifting his arms and trying to turn around while the kid danced at his back. "What are you playing at you runty…."

"I'LL HAVE YOUR FINGERS FOR SOUP YOU KRIFFEN BRAT!"

A tall and haggard Mirialan, wielding a long vibro-blade came barreling around the corner and almost ran headlong into Zeb.

The Lasat, sensing a threat, turned slowly, folding his arms, clenching his muscles, and seemingly growing half a foot taller in a second. The newcomer jerked to a sudden stop a few feet back, his red pocked cheeks puffed out in fury and exhaustion.

Zeb didn't give an inch. "Is that so?" He growled. He flexed a fist, crackling the knuckles in one smooth move.

The Mirialan flinched, his anger momentarily evaporating as his eyes shifted jerkily from Zeb to Kanan, Hera to Sabine, who all thumbed their blasters and glared. The astromech lowered his treds with a hum and narrowed his ocularlense.  
And then his eyes dropped down to Ezra peering from Zeb's elbow, and the anger returned to his haggered face.

"_You!_" he snapped, and made a lunge for the boy who ducked out of reach.

Zeb quickly stepped into the Mirialan's way and knocked the scabby hand aside. The spicer snatched his hand back, withdrawing another step and glared. "You are _protecting_ a _thief!_" he accused, his tone ragged.

Ezra scowled and made a rather rude gesture with his finger from the safety behind the Lasat barrier. "If I'm the thief, then_ You_ give the rest of us a bad name!"

The Mirialan growled and jerked his blade in the air angrily, punctuating his words. "You stole my credits boy. You own me _350_!"

"I owe you nothing!" Ezra's acidic tone surprised them all, as he nearly spat at the Mirialan. "You were robbing that guy blind."

"It's my business, kid!" The spicer's body heaved as he gasped between words.

"Tch, well I made it my business too!"

"You had_ No _right…."

"_You_ had no right!"

"If you don't give up my money boy… I'll call the troopers on you!"

Kanan narrowed his eyes and flicked a glance towards Hera who shook her head very slightly.

"I bet that trooper will be real interested in how you got that money in the first place, _and_ with what's in your pockets." Ezra hissed coldly. "Is that why your _itchin_'? Will the troopers even give a wrecked spicer like you the time of day any more old man?"

The Mirialan flinched back and his eyes flicked around the stony faces of the crew. He paused, measuring the threat, one hand shaking protectively against the pocket over his breast. He licked his cracked lips nervously.

Kanan waited a moment and then casually took a step towards the lip of ramp, eyeing the shorter humanoid.  
"Seems to me you don't have any business here." he paused, letting his words settled, and gave the Mirialan a cold look. "I think its would be for the best if you moved on."  
The Jedi turned on his heel just enough to flash sight of his hand resting casually on his blaster handle. "We wouldn't want to cause you any trouble."

To add emphasis to the threat, Chopper buzzed darkly and slowly extended his elctroprod, which sparked and flickered with voltage.

There was another long pause. The Mirialan tensed, pulling his shoulders back when Kanan met his glare unflinchingly. The spicer's eyes flickered back to Ezra, who narrowed his in return. Zeb put out an arm, and shoved the kid back a little, stepping fully in the way of the Mirialan's angry glare.

The thug was clearly outmatched by the crew, and he could be dispatched with relative ease, but spicers were unpredictable at the best of times, and Zeb wasn't going to take any chances with one so clearly ready to make use of a vibro-blade in a busy spaceport.

The addict shook with fury, and stamped his feet in the dirt, his scabby face twisted up in silent rage. He might explode and make the wrong move any second now...

The crew tensed, fingers twitching on their blasters, waiting to sping into action.

The Miralan's shoulders suddenly dropped, and his whole body shook with a frustrated growl. His joints clicked as he shifted his hold on the blade, pointing the end away from the crew and drew himself up.

"Don't show your face on my streets again." he hissed, jabbing the blade in the direction of Ezra's head. "Or next time I won't be so... _forgiving_."

Ezra scowled, lifting the hackles on his mouth and grunted unintelligibly in response.

The Mirialan narrowed his glare, but began to back away slowly, mindful to watch that the crew's blasters stayed holstered. Then scumbag turned and disappeared into the spaceport crowd.

Ezra let out a heavy sigh of relief as soon as the addict was gone, which become a yelp as he was yanked off his feet by the back of his suit.

He swung his fists, wriggling in the hold, and went still as he was brought face to face with Zeb.

The Lasat growled heavily, blowing his hot breath across Ezra's face.

Ezra began to squirm again, covering his nose and glaring. "Ugh, Zeb. There's no need to gas me!"

"Give me one reason I shouldn't throw you back to that stab happy spicer?" He growled, keeping his voice low only for the sake of any passer-byes.

Ezra foundered. "It wasn't my fault, I swear! His game was rigged! I could see it from the end from the street."

"What game?" Hera demanded, and Zeb swung Ezra around the face the pilot, like an offending loth-pup.

"You know, like, a street game. You put bets on the cards and the vendor hustles you. 'Find the credit under the cups' and the like. Only, the credits are already in the vendor's hands." he shrugged, trying to appear nonchalant with his feet danging in the air.

Hera's face only grew a darker and in a quiet voice she asked, "_Gambling_, Ezra?"

He paled and finally seemed to notice the trouble he was in. "No! Not me! That was never my craft, Hera! I'm a finger thief, not a bunko! It was the mongong spicer. He was robbing this old guy! All I did was stop him from bleeding the sap completely dry."

"Put him down Zeb." Kanan commanded wearily, his fingers pressed into the corners of his eyes.

"None of this is my fault!" Ezra said quickly, racing up the ramp and out of the Lasat's reach.

"Did you rob that man?" Kanan demanded.

"Well, it wasn't his in the first place." Ezra shrugged, attempting to slip past Sabine into the ship.

But the girl stepped swiftly into his path, her expression pinched. "Are you really that thick?"

Ezra stepped back surprised by her tone. "What? Like we don't take stuff all the time? Just last week you stopped me in the middle of a mission to visit the storage hold because 'The Empire owed you a new fuse gun'."

Sabine tensed, her eyes narrowing.

Zeb stepped in before she could reply, giving the boy a hard jab with his knuckles.

"This is different you Dwafnut! You could have be sliced or worse; brought the Troopers on _us_!"

Ezra flapped a hand dismissively. "His bluff was as empty as his snuff box."

"Well his kriffen blade sure wasn't set on _stun_!"

Ezra took a step back, and nearly tripped over Chopper. The droid reved and knocked the boy backwards. "_Bwap bwaa Wapp_!"

"Chopper- You we'rent there!"

Hera stepped forward, laying a firm hand on the boys shoulder and quieting his reply. "Ezra," she began, her voice low and solicitous, "don't you understand how badly that could have gone?"

Ezra quickly shrugged off her touch and stepped backwards, glancing at the crew's faces as they drew around him. The cocksure attitude fading completely from his expression. His eyes found Hera again and his eyebrows drew together.  
"You don't understand, Hera. You didn't see what that guys was up to. I couldn't just watch it..."

"What you did was reckless, Ezra." Kanan said, "You can't just run off any time you like now. You should have told Zeb."

"Zeb wasn't listening to me!" Ezra snapped, backing further down the ramp. "I tried to tell him what was up but he.."

"Oie! Don't blame your brainless actions on me kid!"

Ezra bristled, his temper flaring, mad that no one was taking his side. he tugged in the ends of his hair, groaning in frustration. "You're not _listening_! The spicer was just picking on easy targets because he got the shakes!"

"So you robbed him then _antagonized_ him? On an Empire run world? What if he'd called in a patrol? What if you were recognized?" Kanan demanded, his voice roughly with disappointment.

Ezra winced at his master tone. Forcing angry words back behind the floodgates, he tried to ignore the hot flush filling his cheeks. "Well he _didn't_. And I _wasn't_. It was just some no name, lowlife spicer, Kanan. It all worked out fine."

The disrespectful words seemed to be the end of Kanan's patience, and Ezra felt the air grow tight around them. Kanan's arched brows snapped flat, and his eyes flashed as he answered.

"Lowlife _Spicers_ are not your concern, Ezra. You were surposed to be keeping a low profile, not crashing gambling dens! This kind of rash behavior is selfish..."

The pressure snapped. Kanan clearly had more to say, but Ezra's mouth was already moving. He sucked in a gasp of air and began to shout.

"The game was _rigged, Kanan!_ He was cheating some addled old man and it just blew my fuse! Fine! It was stupid and selfish and _rash_, but I'm _glad_ I broke his game. He was a _cad_!"

When he'd finished, he drew back, unnerved to hear how loudly his words echoed in the spaceport hallways. He glanced behind him and saw a passing Rodian giving him an odd look, but his outburst luckily hadn't seemed to have attracted any other attention.

He blanched and finally had the sense to reel in the attitude. He turned back to the crew slowly, knotting both hands together at his back and let his shoulders drop. His expression evolved into repentance and his tone humbled; it was an awkward look on a boy who usually apologized to no one for nothing.

"He really was robbing the old guy blind, Kanan." he began again, looking to his Master.

Kanan narrowed is eyes, drawing back his shoulders, but said nothing. Ezra continued fumbling over his words as he went.

"There's... _rules_ for picking on the streets. You take from the ones who can afford it-or deserve it-or anyone wearing a bucket."

Sabine started to smile a little, but Hera shot her a look and the girl's amusement vanished.

Ezra swallowed, shrugged his hands into his pockets and now letting his eyes wander towards the ground, trying to avoid his teachers' judgmental stare.  
"The galaxy has enough problems without bleeding _petitioners_ and vets dry. There's no challenge in tricking an old guy outta his purse."

There was a moment of silence, filled by the humm of spaceport traffic.

"No matter how noble your motives were," Kanan replied finally, "Your actions were _short-sighted_."

The boy withdrew at the sharpness in his master's tone, but now chose to stay silent.

"Not only did you disobey orders but you risked the security of the crew."

The boy shifted on the spot, keeping his eyes on the floor.

"And you let a strung out spicer catch you in the act!"

"Only because I gave the old guy back his money." Ezra replied quickly. "Slipped it right into his pocket. But the spicer caught on and got on my heels. Count it. It's feels like about 50 credits." Ezra pulled out an oily leather credit purse from his suit and threw it underhand to Kanan. It chinked as the Jedi caught it, a softer and smaller sound then the 350 credits the con-artist had claimed.

"He scammed one old man out of almost 300 credits?" Kanan asked, now intrigued. Weighing the purse in his hand.

Ezra shrugged. "I guess. I watched him loose at least half of it. I don't think he knew where he was. He wasn't all _there, _y'know_? _I felt bad for the guy."

Ezra had the sense to at least still sound apologetic, but Kanan's stance had already become less angry.

He dropped his shoulders and let one of his eye brows rise as he studied the boy, weighing his thoughts agais the credit pounch in the other hand.  
Ezra let his gaze wander to Sabine and Zeb, who were standing at the back with both their arms folded and chins tilted at superior angles. Chopper stood between them, his ocular lenses narrowed.

Ezra rolled his eyes back to Hera and Kanan, and then, to the floor.

Kanan looked at Hera.

Hera's expression had softened, but her lips were still pursed. She arched a brow after a moment in reply, "Hmmm….love. I suspect you might have done the same thing?"

Ezra looked up, his eyes soft with hope.

Kanan frowned and his stance became firm again. "No." he said, drawing out the sound and gently leaning on the cargo hold's wall. "_I_ wouldn't haven't acted so recklessly." he directed the last part at the boy.

"Well, isn't that what your teaching me?" Ezra asked in a tone that boarded on polite.

The Jedi _Hmmm'_d heavily and shot a glare Hera. She smiled a little now and shrugged.

Kanan turned back to face the boy, clearly still set on making sure a lesson was learned.

"None of this excuses your actions. You could easily been caught by a Trooper or security patrol. All it takes is one small slip up, one mistake and _everything_ this crew is, is put in jeopardy."

Ezra visibly paled and his blue eyes grew wide.

"You got lucky today. " Kanan continued, letting each word take hold and watching the boy carefully. "And you _may_ be lucky tomorrow. But luck doesn't last forever, believe me. You have to be vigilant. You have to be cautious. And above all you need to_ think._ You're a part of this crew now and your actions draw attention to us."

Ezra felt the floor open under him. He _knew _he had been reckless. He _was _only lucky. Lucky that no troopers had been called to the scene. Yes, they would have taken the sobering Mirialan away, but they might have taken Ezra into custody too. They would have at least investigated.

_Only _If _they'd caught me_, a prideful little voice said at the back of his mind. But he was still rightfully shamed. He wasn't on his own any more, he had people to watch his back. But he had to show them he could watch theirs.

And he'd done a poor job of that today.

He would have to do better, he would have to be smarter.

_If they'll still let me stay,_ he realized with a flash of fear.

Something must have shown through his stony expression, because he saw Kanan's resolve breaking.

"All I'm saying kid, is I know you were trying to do the right thing, you just gotta be smarter about it. No more throwing caution to the wind and the like. If there's a cause worth our attention, we'll deal with it; _together_."

Ezra scuffed a boot along the pattern in the ramp. "I know. I will." He did his best not to let the relief show on his face.

Kanan exhaled and leaned back on his heels.

"I hope you also know this means sanitation duty."

"For how long?"

Hera smiled serenely. "Until I say otherwise."

Ezra sensed the tension had past. He folded his hands politely at his back and slapped on an innocent smile. "So, can I keep the 50 credits at least?"

Kanan returned his beguiling look with a crooked one of his own, both amused and completely un-fooled.  
"I don't think so."

Ezra dropped the act and huffed. "Well, can we at least spend it on something other then ration bars?"

"Like what exactly?"

"Decent grub?" Ezra offered eagerly. "Like from a real kitchen, with food that's seen dirt in the past rotation?"

"You want to eat dirt?" Zeb demanded loudly, taking Ezra by the back of his suit again and hauling him under one large arm. "Well, why didn't you say so?" he angled the boy's head towards the ground, not quite letting him touch the dirty ship floor.

"Zeb! NO!" Ezra shouted, wriggling in protest and failing to escape.

Hera slipped an arm through Kanan's elbow and pulled him forward. "It _would_ be a nice chance of pace to have something... not re-hydrated."

Sabine tucked her helmet under her arm, pointedly ignoring the loud racket from the boys behind her. "I'm up for it. My painting can wait."

Kanan smiled wryly and pocketed the coin pouch. "Then I guess it looks like we're going out for dinner."

"Really?" Ezra asked brightly cutting off his protests.

Kanan cocked an eyebrow at the upside down boy and then sighed, "Yes." The man nodded at Zeb, who grinned sheepishly and began straightening the boy up. "But," Kanan stressed, and Ezra's head jerked up, "lets at least try not to draw any more attention to ourselves tonight. Alright?"

Ezra grinned, "Deal."

"Ok, then. Any votes for what we're having?"

"You choose, love."

"Yeah, good idea Kanan." Zeb added, heaving Ezra back up and dumping his unceremoniously on his feet.

The boy over balanced and landed on his rump. "Hey! It was my idea you know!"

"Sure kid." Zeb said shoving Ezra's head back down and ruffling his hair as he passed.  
"If you say so." Sabine told him, pulled him up by his sleeve as the rest of the crew passed him on their way out to the city center.

The bratty droid burbled a snide remark as he pushed past, incidentally rolling over Ezra's foot. "Bwaap bwopp!"

"Ow!"

"But Chopper says he gets dibs on picking the desert!

"Hey, no fair" Ezra leapt back, hopping on one foot for a few steps and then bound down the ramp after his crew.

"Wait for me!"

* * *

**R&amp;R** for Good Karma and Rebel Crew Love.


	17. Closure

**A/N:** Hi all. This fic is a little out of place in here, Its much shorter and set recently, so if you think it deserves it own spot let me know. Its takes place immediately after the events of **"legacy"** so if you haven't watched it, this will contain some serious **spoilers.**

I just needed to have a Happy cry after all the Wretched ones Filoni gave me TT_TT. I hope everyone is well hydrated.

* * *

**Closure**

"Hey Hera."

Hera twisted around in the her pilot seat and saw Ezra standing in the cockpit doorway. His body language was awkward, a hand ruffling through his hair and his eyes averted. He looked tired, but otherwise okay. He glanced back up to meet her gaze and offered her a weary smile. "Do you... have a minute?"

"Of course." She replied instantly, smiling warmly in return. She waved a hand at the empty copilot seat beside her.

He hesitated, as if he'd been expecting she would say 'no', but then dropped his tense shoulders and sank into the chair.

They sat in silence for a few minutes. Ezra started out at the starry skyline and Hera patiently returned her attention the holoscreen data. Deciding on a temporary base location to hide the fleet was proving to be a difficult task.

The Phantom had only rendezvoused with the fleet a few hours before. Ezra had disappear into his cabin on arrival, and Hera was silently thankful she'd sent Sabine and Zeb to be by Commander Sato's side to aid with communication and repairs.

Kanan hadn't needed to say a word. She understood as soon as he'd turned to face her.

After a little while, Ezra looked away from the veiwport and pulled his knees up to his chest.  
"I guess... Kanan's probably told you," he swallowed, "about my parents."

Hera heaved a deep breath, and closed the holoscreen. Turning her body to face the boy and dropped all the steel from her expression. Curled in on himself, squeezing his knees into his chest, Ezra always managed to make himself appear smaller then he was. He stared at his knees, but his focus was clearly on something much further away. A muscle worked in his jaw.

"Yes." Hera answered honestly, as gently as she could. She waited a beat, and then reached out and lay a soft hand on his arm.

She steeled herself in case he tried to shrug her touch off, but he didn't. He turned his head, and looked her straight in the eye.

"I'm _so sorry_, Ezra." She breathed, the tightness in her chest expanding. Her lekku fell limply over her shoulders. There wasn't anything else to be said. Nothing she could ever say would ease the ache in his chest.

As much as she believed in hope, it hurt when it was lost. Which meant she had to keep it alive, if barely.

He blinked at her, and she saw a shudder in his eyes, his lips twitched. He opened his mouth to reply, but seemed to struggle to get the words around the lump in his throat.

"It's... It's okay." he said, studying his knees. After a beat he added, "_I'm_ okay. Really. It's better that... that I know."

She squeezed his arm, and after a moment, he leant into the touch, just an inch.

She felt her eyes growing hot and quickly blinked them clear. He lifted his head after a moment and smiled softly.

"Did Kanan tell you they heard our transmission?"

Her returning smile was wide, but her voice was soft. "Yes. I'm sure it inspired them to keep going, to stay strong. They were very brave."

He nodded weakly, and his expression grew a little shakily again.

"They saved so many people, Ezra."

It was true. The Bridgers' sacrifice, by all accounts, had been the pinnacle point in the mass escape. Many names and leads and missing persons were being located as they spoke. New information and valuable intel on the Empire was coming to light. The rebellion may have lost their safe-hold on Garel, but their hope was burning brighter than ever. The Empire had not won today and that was in many ways thanks to the Bridgers.

Ryder Azadi, the former governor, had made that clear, and reports of their action had already spread deep throughout the rebellions fleet. _The voices of Freedom_, had paid the ultimate price.

They would be proud.

Looking at Ezra, they had a lot to be proud of.

They had lapsed into silence, both deep in thought. But now Ezra lifted his chin and sat up straight. His eyes were bright and focused on something far away; he looked like he was teetering on the edge of spilling something heavy. Hera waited.

"Hera," He began, seeming to find it hard to look her in the eye. "I just... wanted to tell you..." He struggled to string the words together, and they tumbled out disjointed. "I think, I _k__now_... That they were really proud of me. Of _Us_. Of everything we've done and what we're _trying_ to do..."

Hera wanted to speak, but she could see he wasn't done. She didn't want to interrupt him and break his train of thought.

"I wanted to say... Thank you. For helping me... for changing me; into someone they could be proud of. Someone who can carry on what they started."

Hera felt her lips open in surprise. Before she could gather her words to answer, he looked her right in the eye and smiled one of his rare, unguarded grins. His eyes were wet, but no tears fell and he didn't wipe them away.

"I think they knew... that I would be okay, because they knew I would have you." He shook his head a little as he spoke.  
"You would have loved them Hera, and..." His throat tired to tighten on his word. "I _know_ they would have loved you."

Hera felt her heart twist in her chest. A bubble of tightness took her breath away for just a moment and she felt a rush of light-headedness spread through her all the way to the tips of her lekku. Her eyes burned, but for a different reason now.

Now it was her turn to swallow a lump in her throat but the words weren't coming out.

Seeing her suddenly struggle to find her voice, Ezra turned bashful now. The moment of rawness had passed and now he looked a little embarrassed by what he'd said. Hera was not one to be left speechless easily. He blinked his eyes dry and cleared his throat.

"So... That's all... I wanted to say, I guess." he got up quickly and gently detached her hand. He appeared a little less drained than he had before.

"I better let you get back to your work, _Captain_." He winked, and moved to leave.

"Ezra."

He turned. "Yeah?"

Hera stood, meaning to finally speak, but instead she found her heart lunged in her chest. She followed it and found herself wrapping her arms tightly around him. She squeezed, pressing him close into her shoulder, suddenly needing him to know what she was feeling.

He was surprised, but not offended. Maybe a little overwhelmed judging by the shuddering intake of breath. Hera swallowed and pulled away to give him some space, but only an arm's length.  
He met her eyes, and his own were wide. Hera smiled and finally found the words she needed to say.

"I know I would have loved them, because they sound just like you."

His expression evolved quickly through shock, and then pain as the words took their effect. He lowered his eyes and looked at the floor, drawing in a deep breath that made his shoulders stretch and shudder. Then he lifted his eyes, and smiled at her.

"Thanks, Hera."

After a moment, he felt awkward again and she let him de-tangle her arms with an gangly laugh.

"Well, I gotta go. You've got a fleet to house and I'm sure I'm late for Jedi training or chores or a prank Chopper's been waiting to pull on me."

Hera leant an elbow on the back of her chair, cocking a brow. "More likely he's waiting for you to pull one on Zeb when he gets back."

Ezra chucked as he slid down the port hole ladder. "Fingers crossed."

"As long as my ship stays in one piece." She called over her shoulder, sliding back into the pilot's chair. She smiled as his voice drifted back up the porthole.

"Aye Aye, Captain!"

* * *

**R&amp;R** for good Karma and to stem the flow of feelings TT_TT


End file.
